Arts & Culture

'A Celtic Christmas' Comes to the Bluegrass

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A preview of Tomaseen Foley's "A Celtic Christmas." A transcript of this video can be found here.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 17, 2014) — Experience the holidays in Ireland from the comfort of a chair at the University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts with "Tomáseen Foley's A Celtic Christmas." Featuring a program of folktales, music and dance, "A Celtic Christmas" will warm hearts beginning 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21.

Now in its 17th season, "A Celtic Christmas" recreates the joy and innocence of a night before Christmas in a remote farmhouse in the parish of Teampall an Ghleanntáin in the west of Ireland. The show remembers when neighboring families gathered around the fire to grace the wintry night with haunting melodies of traditional Irish Christmas carols, to raise the rafters with the joy of their music, to knock sparks off the flagstone floor with traditional dances and to fill the night with the laughter of their stories.

Foley's "A Celtic Chirstmas" captures the holiday childhood experiences of the storyteller and director himself, who was born on a small farm in Teampall an Ghleanntáin. Today, he shares those memories with audiences across the U.S. from Thanksgiving to Christmas with his show. His other program, "Tomáseen Foley’s Irish Times," tours throughout the remainder of the year. Foley has released two CDs, "A Celtic Christmas: Parcel From America" and a live recording, "The Priest and the Acrobat."

"A Celtic Christmas" also features the talents of Grammy Award-winning guitarist and musical director William Coulter; vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and Irish dancer Marianne Knight; multi-instrumentalist Brian Bigley; Irish dancer Marcus Donnelly; and violinist Edwin Huizinga.

Ticket prices vary from $20 to $30 for "Tomáseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas." Tickets can be purchased by calling the Singletary Center ticket office at 859-257-4929, visiting online at www.scfatickets.com, or in person at the venue. Processing fees will be added to purchase upon transaction.

A part of the UK College of Fine Arts, the Singletary Center for the Arts presents and hosts around 400 artistic, cultural and educational events annually for the university community, Lexington community and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu