News Updates

Gathering News: Calendar Shift for Old-Time & Celtic Weeks

After careful consideration by Swannanoa Gathering staff and program coordinators, as well as input from Gathering participants and leadership from other old-time and celtic music camps around the country, the Swannanoa Gathering has decided to adjust the placement of Old-Time Week and Celtic Week in its 2026 summer program order. As announced at our workshops this summer, the 2026 dates of Old-Time Music and Dance Week are July 12-18, and the dates for Celtic Week are July 19-25. Our intention is to maintain this change to the Swannanoa Gathering program order for 2026 and beyond.

This adjustment is beneficial for multiple reasons. The previous program order resulted in frequent conflicts with similar large music weeks that attract the same clientele. In particular, SG Celtic Week overlapped with Catskills Irish Arts Week in New York, and SG Old-Time Week overlapped with the Augusta Heritage Center’s Old-Time Week in West Virginia. This clash impacted attendees and teaching staff in both programs. Moving SG Celtic Week one week later and SG Old-Time Week one week earlier remedies this. Moreover, it is important to us to be supportive of other community-minded, instructional weeks like ours. An additional advantage for SG Old-Time Week attendees is that the new schedule will not conflict with the early weekend of the Appalachian String Band Music Festival (aka Clifftop), because the line-up starts just a few days after Old-Time Week concludes.

Despite the overall advantages of this schedule shift, we know it may impact some folks who regularly attend our Celtic Week and Old-Time Week programs. Ultimately, we are confident that this decision will make it possible for even more folks to enjoy our wonderful programming. We want to thank all of our students and participants for their support. Your feedback is crucial as we work to make the Swannanoa Gathering the best it can be and ensure its bright future for generations to come.