Many of us are missing the opportunity to travel to Cape Breton this year, especially to Féis an Eilein, which is celebrating its 30th year despite the coróna-bhioras (COVID-19).

The weeklong event in August is a highlight of the Gaelic year in Nova Scotia. The féis, held on Eilean na Nollaig or Christmas Island, is the first to be held outside Scotland.

But don’t despair. Even if ...

ACGA’s Grandfather Mountain Gaelic Song and Language Week (GMS&LW) will be held online, with four days of classes July 6-9 in Scottish Gaelic song and language taught via Zoom. The virtual event will feature Wilma Kennedy and Màiri Britton as instructors.

After the physical on-site event was canceled due to the loss of our venue at Lees-McRae College, the GMS&LW committee swung into action and organized ...

We regret to say the Grandfather Mountain Gaelic Song & Language Week scheduled for July 5-10 has been canceled.

Tha sinn gu math duilich.

Lees-McRae College, the site of the event for two decades, has officially canceled their hosting of all summer events and programs due to necessary actions taken to address the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes our event. The Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, which follow the ...

Three highly acclaimed Scottish Gaelic singers and educators will be instructors at this year’s Grandfather Mountain Gaelic Song & Language Week (GS&LW): Catriona MacPhee, Wilma Kennedy, and Màiri Britton. Registration for the GS&LW is now open, and may be completed online here.

The GS&LW will be held from Sunday, July 5, through Friday, July 10, at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina. Information on accommodations ...Read More

The Ligonier Mòd will take place in the town of Ligonier, Pennsylvania, at the Ligonier Highland Games Sept. 13-15, 2019, as it has many times in the past!

We will gather Friday night, Sept. 13, for those who wish, for a cèilidh at the Ramada Ligonier, situated in the heart of the town near Fort Ligonier. The competitions will take place at the Ligonier Highland Games ...

Acclaimed Scottish Gaelic singer Rachel Walker is returning to America, this time to judge the Gaelic song competition at Mòd Ligonier 2019 in September.

The Mòd is a celebration of Scottish Gaelic song, music, poetry and storytelling based on Scotland’s Royal National Mòd and provincial Mòds. ACGA has held 30 National U.S. Mòds, many of them at Ligonier in western Pennsylvania.

Mòd Ligonier will be held Sept. ...Read More

Registration is now open for the 2019 ACGA Grandfather Mountain Gaelic Song & Language Week, a five-day intensive exploration of Scottish Gaelic song, language and culture in the western mountains of North Carolina. This year’s program will run from Sunday, July 7 through Friday, July 12, followed by the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and North Carolina Provincial Gaelic Mòd.

The GS&LW returns to Lees-MacRae College for ...

It’s well-known, or should be, that Scottish Gaelic was once spoken well beyond the Hebrides and Highlands, as far south as the Scottish borders during the Middle Ages. That’s been obscured by history and historical myth-making that sought to de-emphasize the role of the Gaels in Scotland (how many times have researchers heard “Gaelic was never spoken here” from people in parts of Scotland pocked ...

ACGA’s National Mòd in Pennsylvania is on hiatus for 2018 as we re-tool for an expanded event in 2019, but we’ve gotten a large number of inquiries and requests to get together in Ligonier again this year, to have a smaller, informal Mòd.

We just can’t let the year go by without keeping the tradition of singing, storytelling, poetry, and good times going in some form! ...