The International Celtic World Festival in Ortigueira

Ortigueira, A Coruña, Galicia is the setting for the Celtic Festival in July 2018 / Flickr

27 June 2018, 14:05

The International Celtic World Festival

When: 12th – 15th July 2018
Where: Ortigueira, Spain
Website: www.festivaldeortigueira.com

The International Celtic World Festival is a summer event you simply cannot afford to miss in 2018. The town of Ortigueira in Galicia invites you to travel through the best music of the Celtic world with internationally renowned artists.

This is one of the most varied cultural events in Spain, which year after year has consolidated the festival and made it an international point of interest. Every year, people from all tribes from all over the world, Celtic and otherwise, come together to celebrate. Here, we discover the Festival internacional del Mundo Celta, the famous festival of Ortigueira.

Ortigueira, the pride of Celtic Galicia

Ortigueira is a municipality belonging to the Galician province of A Coruña, Spain. Bathed by the Atlantic Ocean, Ortigueira is characterised by its mountainous landscape, beaches and estuaries.

The northern Spanish province of Galicia is often unofficially termed the “Ireland of Spain”, not only for its lush green landscapes, but also for its Celtic history, with the two regions sharing a common ancestry in the Celts, who migrated centuries back.

In the town of Ortigueira there are historical buildings (including convents, churches and mansions) and loads of culture, which invite tourists and locals alike to discover a little more about the Celtic world. Ortigueira has gained prominence thanks to its pride in its Celtic heritage, manifest in events such as the International Celtic World Festival, one of the most popular folk music festivals in the country.

The town also hosts frequent traditional events outside of the Celtic World Festival where you can hear bands and choirs from the land of the Celts that invite you to discover the authentic sound of the Galician bagpipe.

The famous festival of Ortigueira

One of the best and most popular festivals on the Spanish music scene is, without a doubt, the International Celtic World Festival, held every second weekend in July, in the Galician town of Ortigueira.

The famous music festival was born as a result of the effort of the Ortigueira Bagpipe School, which in 1978 began to prepare an annual artisan event of folkloric character with a free spirit. In the year 2000, the foundations were laid for the International Celtic World Festival as we know it today, an authentic celebration of all different musical genres that invites the audience to travel through the best of Celtic music.

This folk event features a line-up of international artists and bands from Scotland, Ireland, Brittany in France and Galicia. The festival's identity, with its mix of sounds and multiple concerts, fused with the craft fair and other activities, bring the Celtic world closer to all who go there. For all these reasons and more, the famous Celtic festival of Ortigueira has been declared a Festival of International Tourist Interest. If you go to just one Spanish music festival in summer 2018, make it this one!