Maple Ridge musician closes out annual Winter Celebrations festival

A Maple Ridge musician is helping the city of New Westminster end the year off with a bang as it hosts the annual Winter Celebrations festival.

As part of this event, which runs until Saturday, Dec. 31, more than a dozen musical acts from all across the Lower Mainland will be performing for the crowds of people in the Anvil Theatre.

Closing out the event as the last ticketed performers are Blackthorn, who will be doing a Family Ceilidh that Anvil Theatre describes as “a social event at which there is Scottish or Irish folk music and singing, traditional dancing, and storytelling.”

One of the members of Blackthorn is a lifelong Maple Resident named Tim Renaud who has been performing with the band as their bass player, cittern player, and vocalist for more than 20 years.

Although Blackthorn has performed at past Winter Celebrations, Renaud explained that this year’s performance means even more to him and the band.

“Every single event we do in the past few months we take as a gift,” said Renaud. “It has been a long couple of years of very few performances in front of people and being up on stage, and providing music for a room of dancers is really an amazing feeling.”

For those who are unsure of what to expect at a Ceilidh, Renaud said that a bit of everything will be included.

“We will be playing Celtic music from Ireland, Scotland, England and even some Canadian traditional music,” explained Renaud. “Our instrumentation consists of Fiddle, Flutes, Whistles, Acoustic Guitars, Cittern, and Upright bass. We will also have a percussionist and a piper joining us for this event.”

“Not only do we do great instrumental music for called dancing, but we will also be performing a selection of songs for everyone to sing along. We have done many of these called dance Ceilidh evenings and they are a great way for everyone of all ages to enjoy a physical activity together while also enjoying the arts.”

Those wishing to participate in the Family Ceilidh and see Blackthorn perform live, can do so by purchasing tickets to the Dec. 30 event.

The performance will run from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 30, at the Anvil Centre Ballroom, located at 777 Columbia St., New Westminster.

Tickets for the event cost $35 per adult, $29 for seniors and students, and $17 for children 18 years old and younger. More information is available at https://anviltheatre.ca/event/family-ceilidh-blackthorn/.