48th Annual Monterey Scottish Games & Celtic Festival returns to the Monterey County Fair & Event Center on August 1st and 2nd, 2015

Dozens of kilted athletes, bagpipers and dancers will be back in Monterey entertaining Festival-goers who will enjoy experiencing the fascinating Celtic culture.

Monterey, CA, February 18, 2015 - Save the date! The 48th Annual Monterey Scottish Games & Celtic Festival brings the bright colors of hundreds of tartan plaids and the sounds of many talented bagpipe bands to Monterey! Put on your kilt and sporran, bring your family and friends, and visit the mystical lands of Scotland and Ireland … without even leaving the Monterey Peninsula. Dozens of kilted athletes, bagpipers and dancers will be back in Monterey entertaining Festival-goers who will enjoy experiencing the fascinating Celtic culture.

The award-winning Scottish Society of the Monterey Peninsula will hold its 48th Annual Monterey Scottish Games & Celtic Festival (www.montereyscotgames.com) on Saturday and Sunday, August 1st and 2nd 2015, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The festival will take place at the beautiful and spacious Monterey County Fair & Event Center located at 2004 Fairground Road, Monterey, CA, 93940.

This very popular Celtic celebration brings the music, dance, food and athletic events of Scotland and Ireland to Monterey County. Featuring fun activities for the whole family, the Monterey Scottish Games & Celtic Festival offers a variety of live Celtic entertainment with exciting massed pipe bands on parade, including many award-winning California-based pipe bands, plus talented Highland and Irish dancers.

The outstanding array of special entertainment this year will feature many crowd-pleasing favorites for all ages including internationally known entertainers. On Sunday, the Festival will also feature “Salute to the Irish” that will include special Irish entertainment, including performances by the hilarious Seamus Kennedy.

The Monterey Scottish Games & Celtic Festival also features exciting Scottish heavy athletic competition events seen in award-winning films such as Braveheart, Rob Roy and Brave, including the famous caber toss, hammer and stone throw, weight for distance and height, and the sheaf toss.

Among the many thrilling sights and sounds are crowd-pleasing activities such as the powerful massed pipe bands, thrilling Drum Major competition, Solo and Pipe Band competitions, Highland Dancing, Irish Step dancing, and sheepdog herding. Step back in time with costumed historical re-enactment Groups depicting life in 16th Century Scotland with Clan Galbraith, St. Andrew’s Society including meet and greets and tea with Mary Queen of Scots, and the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). Festival attendees will also enjoy researching their own clans at the clan and Celtic association tents as they stroll through the Avenue of Clans.

There are lots of fun interactive children’s games activities planned for the wee ones at the Children's Glen, too. Little ones can participate in scaled down athletic events (mini-Caber toss, pillow over the bar, mini braemar stone putt), plus enjoy fun Celtic craft projects and the popular Celtic Quest.

Many vendors at the Monterey Scottish Games & Celtic Festival will offer tasty and British and Scottish food and drink, and unique Scottish, British and Irish crafts, jewelry, clothing, and music that will be enjoyed by all. There’s always great shopping with authentic products imported from Scotland, Ireland and England and hand-made items with Celtic themes.

Don’t miss the popular whisky tasting seminar that celebrates one of Scotland’s greatest exports—fine, single malt Scotch whisky and learn more about the history, distillation process and various tasting characteristics of fine whiskies. Guinness beer and other beverages are abundant as well.

Advance discount presale tickets will be available soon at www.montereyscotgames.com.

Each year, the proceeds from the Monterey Scottish Games & Celtic Festival benefit several local non-profit organizations in Monterey County.

For more details, check out the website montereyscotgames.com or call (831) 682-2022. For sponsorship opportunities, interviews and high resolution photos, please call Wendy Brickman, Brickman Marketing, at 831-633-4444 or email Brickman@BrickmanMarketing.com.

Contact:
Wendy Brickman
Brickman Marketing
395 Del Monte Center #250
Monterey, CA 93940
831-633-4444
http://www.montereyscotgames.com

Special Celtic Concert on Friday, January 9, 2015 - Rebecca Lomnicky & David Brewer & Special Guests: An Evening of Scottish Music & Dance

Save the date for a not-to-be-missed concert with the fabulous internationally renowned Celtic performers

Pacific Grove, CA, January 07, 2015 - Save the date for a not-to-be-missed concert with the fabulous internationally renowned Celtic performers: Rebecca Lomnicky & David Brewer & Special Guests: An Evening of Scottish Music & Dance. This very special event will be held on Friday, January 9th at 7:30 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church of Pacific Grove, 915 Sunset, in Pacific Grove, CA 93950. Tickets are now available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1054041 and are $20 (general) $15 (seniors over age 65 military and students with ID). For more information, call (831) 633-4444 or email brickman@brickmanmarketing.com.

About Rebecca Lomnicky and David Brewer:
Rebecca Lomnicky and David Brewer are a high energy pure-drop Scottish music duo, with world class fiddling talent in combination with bagpipes, guitar, bodhran, and whistle. International Scottish Fiddle Champion, Rebecca Lomnicky, and David Brewer of the popular Celtic band Molly's Revenge, have each spent copious amounts of time delving into the traditions of their respective instruments, living and studying in both Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands. Together they perform captivating Scottish music which bridges the gap between the fiddle and bagpipe music of Scotland, two worlds united, into a heartfelt and rousing musical experience. Between their entertaining and informative stage banter, varied instrument combinations, and vast repertoire of tunes and songs, including everything from soaring slow airs to intricately arranged dance tunes, these charismatic performers will leave you on your feet with your hands together.

Together, Rebecca Lomnicky and David Brewer have headlined at Celtic festivals such as The Utah Scottish Association Highland Games, The Portland Highland Games, The Sedona Celtic Harvest Festival, The Seattle Folklife Festival, The Oregon Scottish Festival, The Yachats Celtic Music Festival, The Monterey Scottish Games and Celtic Festival, The Payson Scottish Games, The Eugene Scottish Festival, and has performed at a variety of venues throughout the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland.

The duo will be joined by several special guest highland dancers & singers, including Peter "the Admiral" Haworth, former vocalist of Molly's Revenge, from Blackburn, in the north of England.

About Rebecca Lomnicky:
Rebecca Lomnicky began playing classical violin and piano at age five, discovered Scottish fiddle music only a few years later, and in 2005 won the Junior Division of the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Competition. Following that victory, she recorded her first CD, The Call, praised by Dirty Linen magazine as "technically masterful, and wonderfully melodic." In 2009, Rebecca won the 20th Annual Glenfiddich International Scottish Fiddle Championship held at Blair Castle, Blair Atholl, Scotland. The invitation only championship - seen as the Grammys of the fiddling world- is widely regarded as the most prestigious in Scottish fiddle. She has performed in Scotland, Ireland, Italy, China, and across the US, has been featured on the BBC radio show, Take the Floor, and in 2009, recorded her second CD, Inspired, with David Brewer. In 2014, Rebecca graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University with a double major in Music and Sociocultural Anthropology. She was also awarded the 2013-2014 Ellen Gussman Adelson Prize for outstanding instrumental music performance. For more about Rebecca, please visit: www.rebeccalomnicky.com

About David Brewer:
David Brewer is a multi-instrumentalist who has toured with the Scottish super-group The Old Blind Dogs, and with Molly's Revenge across the US, the UK, Canada, China, and Australia. He has been a special guest of the six-time Grammy winning group The Chieftains, and was a key musician for the soundtrack of the PBS documentary, "Andrew Jackson, Good, Evil, and the Presidency". David, who is known for being animated and engaging on stage, compliments Rebecca's award winning fiddling with guitar, Irish penny-whistle, and bodhran frame-drum, but primarily the Scottish bagpipes, on which he is unarguably one of the most energetic and charismatic performers of the instrument in the world today. For more about David, please visit: www.davidbrewermusic.com

Contact:
Wendy Brickman
Brickman Marketing
395 Del Monte Center #250
Monterey, CA 93940
831-633-4444
http://www.brownpapertickets.com