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By giving to CelticMKE, your contributions will support our efforts in promoting the Irish and Celtic cultures through year-round programming and through preserving their unique traditions, both in the Milwaukee area and around the globe.
Think of your favorite holiday. How do you prepare for that holiday? How do you celebrate? By immersing yourself in all aspects of it - from decorating your home and listening to the music of the season to gathering with your friends and family. It's a time to reflect, rejuvenate and enjoy all that the season brings. The holidays can radiate feelings of familiarity, bliss and anticipation and can offer respite from your day to day routines.
What the holidays emanate is synonymous with what the Irish and Celtic cultures emanate.
Aside from the immersion, just merely thinking about the holidays can put a smile on people's faces. Merely thinking about what it means to be a part of the Irish and Celtic communities can do the same.
Holidays give you something to look forward to; holidays are imbued with tradition. Whether it's flying back to your hometown for a family reunion or putting up the Christmas tree with your kids, these kinds of traditions become an essential part of who we are and how we celebrate our cultures. Traditions hold a strong meaning in our hearts and builds bonds between friends, families and communities. Traditions give us a sense of belonging and is a way for us to connect with our heritage.
The seven Celtic nations are imbued with tradition, too. From the ancient Celtic era to the modern day, people of Celtic heritage and descent pride themselves on staying connected to their history and culture. It's what makes their countries thrive. At CelticMKE, our goal is to showcase that heritage, to promote the culture, and preserve those traditions. By donating this giving season to our organization, you'll be contributing to something greater than just our organization; you'll be supporting what binds us global Irish and Celtic people together - which is our affinity for the culture and our connection to each other through community. We come together as a family, much like coming together for Thanksgiving, to celebrate our ancestry, our heritage and the feelings that being Irish or Celtic elicits.
"To me being Irish means family, but further than that it is a sense of belonging and community. I come from a rather large and very tight knit Irish Catholic family, and to me being Irish is synonymous with being part of that family. It is a feeling of home and warmth, mixed with a sense of belonging and love." - Ciara Duffy, First Year Milwaukee Irish Fest Volunteer
At CelticMKE our mission is to not only promote and celebrate all aspects of the Irish and Celtic cultures, but to also instill an appreciation of the heritage and traditions to current and future generations of folks around the world.
To do so, we want to accomplish of our goal of becoming a leading resource for all things Irish and Celtic, both locally and globally. Your contributions to CelticMKE will enable us to:
To keep the culture and traditions alive, we seek your support. Any donation helps. Please donate this Giving Tuesday, or donate now by clicking the button below.
"I think the word Celtic brings a few thoughts to mind. Of course there is the Celtic history - the rich mythology, the Celtic symbolism and respect of our planet and nature. I have always been drawn to the beauty and intricacy of Celtic knot-work and love how the knots show the interconnections of all things. Celtic knot-work shows this so well with the beautiful designs. The word Celtic to me also suggests unity amongst the seven Celtic nations and represents the hope of seeing that which binds us together and not what divides us." - Kristina Paris, 2017 Volunteer of the Year
"Being Irish means being a part of a storied history of music, hospitality and hard work." Rob Berrones, Milwaukee Irish Fest Volunteer
"Being Irish to me means being a part of a larger community that has given me lifelong friendships with incredible people from all over the world!" - Elyse Transon, Founder of the Milwaukee Irish Dance Company
"Being a part of CelticMKE builds on that sense of belonging and community, and in a sense, extends family through the bond of heritage and a love for Ireland and Irish culture. It is this celebration of our heritage that connects the community of CelticMKE and makes it such a warm and welcoming place." - Ciara Duffy, First Year CelticMKE Volunteer
"Being a part of the CelticMKE community has given me so many wonderful experiences. My first introduction to this incredible family was in 1988 when I took a couple classes at the Milwaukee Irish Fest Summer School. Learning Irish traditional music has been one of the most joyful and heartful expereinces in my life and continues to this day. It opened up doors to volunteering, learning, teaching, forming two bands, starting the Milwaukee Irish Fest School of Music, putting on concerts of world renown Irish musicians as fundraisers - and above all, making lifelong friends. When I play Irish music for dancers at a session, I feel a joy that elevates me beyond what can be described. I will forever be grateful to those who introduced me to these incredible experiences and such amazing people. While I am not of Irish descent, I know my heart is! I feel welcomed, appreciated and respected. I am so grateful to be a part of this CelticMKE family." - Kristina Paris
"What you're doing here is giving them [kids & young adults] the chance to experience that [the culture], sewing the seed at a very young age, as to what's important about Irish culture - its dance, its music, and that seed will mature over the years and ultimately, allow them to have the chance to pass it on again to the next generation. So you're taking something that was brought over on the famine ships and you're giving it new life every year, over and over again and making it relevant to a whole new generation. That's incredibly important." - Ciaran Cannon
"I feel so heartened that Irish culture is so alive, and so vibrant and so strong across the U.S. And I feel humbled that so many people from Irish backgrounds and indeed, many more with little to no Irish backgrounds, walk together and continue to take our interests and enjoy our culture, for which we are very, very, proud." - Ciaran Cannon at the 2018 Association of Irish & Celtic Festivals Conference
Milwaukee Irish Fest Tickets Charitable Donation
When purchasing your tickets to Milwaukee Irish Fest through our online ticketing store, you can support our mission of promoting Celtic music and culture, through year-round programming & educational opportunities, by adding on a donation (such as $1, $5, etc.) to your tickets. By supporting our work, we can further our commitment of showcasing the best that the Irish and Celtic cultures have to offer.
"I’ll tell ya when I felt most proud to be Irish...might take a minute but this gave me goosebumps...Ireland was playing the European soccer championships...we were drawn in the ‘group of death’...Spain, Italy, ourselves and I think Croatia...realistically we weren’t going to win any match...but the fans travelled in their thousands...I remember watching the first game against Croatia...every time an Irish player got the ball it was just crazy applause...every time a Croatian player got the ball-silence...we lost 2-0 I think...the next game we played Spain...def no hope this time (they went on to win the comp)...but the same thing...they beat us 4-0 but the Irish were doing the same thing...I was on holidays in Malta for the last game...Italy...also no hope of winning...and even if we won a million to nill we couldn’t progress through the tournament...but I HAD to tune in...HAD to support...it didn’t matter that we had lost I HAD to support...we lost that game too but I noticed it was ALL Irish in the crowd...and the same thing...I got goosebumps...even when we’re beaten you can’t beat us...we had 700 years of oppression and we responded by songs and poets and a sense of humour that developed from it...we can’t be beaten...even when we’re beaten...the Irish fans were praised by the polish president at the next euro championship...they sang babies to sleep on buses...cleaned up after themselves...everybody just over for the craic...in 1990 we got to the quarter finals of the World Cup...the county was at a standstill...for all the other countries you MUST WIN...for us they lost the quarter final and got a hero’s welcome...we turned our oppression into a sense of humour...I’ve been to LOTS of places on my travels but the best thing about Ireland is the Irish...there’s an undercurrent of humour running parallel with daily life that we don’t even notice cos we take it for granted...everybody loves the Irish...not in a smug way; the French wouldn’t want to be anything but French...same for German, Italian and any number of countries...but we’re welcomed because we have an air of just being there for the fun of it...and I don’t mean that in a flippant way or that we don’t take competition seriously or we’re all just jokers...it’s very very very hard to put your finger on...but that day I just felt proud of my countrymen and felt proud to be Irish...even when we’re beaten you can’t beat us...and we’ll fight to the bitter end; win lose or draw we’ll stand arm in arm with the opponents and have a drink...I LOVE being where I’m from!!" - Shane Hayes, from the Irish band, Socks in the Frying Pan
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