2008 Missouri Celtic Festival Gets Folk Arts Grant
The Missouri Arts Council has awarded a Folk Arts Grant to the Southwest Missouri Celtic Festival for the 2008 event, which takes place on September 5 and 6.
The stated mission of the Festival is “to provide authentic traditional Celtic music, dance and culture to the people of Southwest Missouri, most of whom have Celtic roots, but no outlet to learn and explore those roots”.
This is the 6th Annual festival for Buffalo, Missouri with me first writing about the festival in 2006.
The grant of $8,265 will go towards the festival’s expenses of more than $25,000.
The reaction of the Entertainment Director, the wonderfully named Beau Buffington, illustrates the true value of the grant:
“I grew up in Polk County, just next door to Dallas County, and my childhood dream was to become a world-champion highland bagpiper someday. At the time, however, access to a bagpipe teacher, or even Celtic music, wasn’t available locally. In hindsight, I realize that I have benefited tremendously from the mentorship and opportunities from playing traditional music. These opportunities and this mentorship are what I hope to help facilitate with the MAC grant.”
Read more about the award on Springfield, Missouri’s News-Leader in a story submitted by Beau himself.
Visit the official wesbite of the festival.
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