- November 19, 2024
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ST. AUGUSTINE — Irish rock band Black 47 is known as much more than a musical group. According to lead singer, Larry Kirwan, they are a voice for Irish America.
“We wanted to change the way Irish Americans listen to music and introduce a lot of topics into our songs,” Kirwan said in a phone interview.
Black ’47 gets its name from the summer of 1847, the worst year of the Great Irish Famine. The political-minded band started in 1989 and set out to sing about civil rights, gay rights, the north of Ireland, woman’s rights and have a good time while doing it. Exactly 25 years after their first gig, the band plans to retire November of this year.
“I think Black 47 has done everything we have set out to do,” Kirwan said.
But before they call it quits, the band will be playing in North Florida one last time, taking the stage as headliners at the fourth-annual Celtic Music and Heritage Festival, March 7-9 in St. Augustine. Each year, St. Augustine’s Celtic Music and Heritage Festival nearly doubles. With some 20,000 expected to descend on a city of only 14,000, event planners Sharon and John Cunningham have hopes of this being the largest festival of its kind.
“The band loves St. Augustine and the history of the town,” Kirwan said. “We’ve always had a big following in Florida. When we do a gig there, people tend to come from all over the Southeast for it.”
Black 47’s final album, “Last Call,” will release just before the big show.
Other highlights of this downtown-wide Festival include Celtic clans from around the world showing their ancestral pride, Highland games athletes demonstrating their mind-boggling strength, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade marching through the streets of the Oldest City’s Historic District and vendors offering Celtic cuisine and handmade crafts.
But the hands-down favorite of the St. Augustine Celtic festival is the music. Scottish and Irish bands playing both traditional tunes and modernized renditions of the ancient Celtic music appear live on stage throughout the two-day festival.
Visit celticstaugustine.com.
Music Lineup
Saturday, March 8
Main Stage
11:30 to noon bagpipe jam
12:15-12:45 The dance company
1-1:30 p.m. StrumStick
1:45-2:30 p.m. Albannach
2:45-3:30 p.m. Scuttered The Bruce
3:45-5:15 p.m. Dublin City Ramblers
5:30-6:15 p.m. Glor Na Daire Dance Studio
6:30-7:15 p.m. Irish Echoes
7:30-9 p.m. Rathkeltair
9:15-10 p.m. Albannach
Second Stage
Noon-12:25 p.m. Finn and Fiona
12:30-1:15 p.m. Captain Mayhem
1:30-2:30 p.m. Tin Whistle Class
2:30-3 p.m. Finn and Fiona
3:15-4 p.m. Dublin Train Wreck
4:15-5 p.m. Captain Mayhem
5-5:30 p.m. Finn and Fiona
5:45-6:30 p.m. Jig to a Milestone
Sunday, March 9
Main Stage
12:30-1 p.m. Albannach
1:15-2:15 p.m. Dublin City Ramblers
2:45-3:45 p.m. Rathkeltair
4:15-5:45 p.m. Black 47
6 p.m. to close Albannach
Second Stage
Noon to 12:45 Captain Mayhem
1-1:45 p.m. Jig to a Milestone
2-2:45 p.m. Drum Circle
3-3:45 p.m. Captain Mayhem
4-4:45 Dublin Train Wreck
Whisky Tasting and Highland Games
Celebrating the best in Celtic whiskys, the festival will have whisky tasting 7 p.m. Friday, March 7, on Francis Field in downtown St. Augustine. A limited number of tickets are available for $45.
The Highland Games will take place Saturday, March 8, and Sunday, March 9, with event listed as follows: open stone put (16 pounds thrown for distance in any style), heavy hammer throw, 56-pound weight for distance, 28-pound weight for distance, caber toss (size and weight of caber differs between the classes of athletes), sheaf toss (16-pound burlap bag tossed with a pitch fork for height) and 56-pound weight for height.
Visit celticstaugustine.com.
