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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Boston fiddler Katie McNally is scheduled to part in Club Passim’s virtual BCMFest in January. (Photo: Katie McNally via Facebook)

If there was any doubt: The Boston Celtic Music Fest will be online for its 18th year due to coronavirus restrictions, Club Passim has announced. The annual celebration of music, song and dance from Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other related traditions – and related workshops – is scheduled for Jan. 14-18.

“Instead of lamenting the BCMFest we can’t have – where we’d be sitting in Club Passim and The Sinclair or dancing in The Atrium – we will explore new, creative ways to enjoy this music in a virtual setting, making full use of the possibilities this technology presents,” said leadership at Passim, a Harvard Square nonprofit.

Among the acts scheduled to appear are Matt and Shannon Heaton, Joey Abarta, Hanneke Cassel and Yann Falquet, Katie McNally and Neil Pearlman, Scottish Fish, Jenna Moynihan and the Atlantic Folk Trio.

The online version of the festival will continue selecting performers to serve as special guest “mentors” who share their insights and experiences as well as their talents, organizers said. This year’s mentors are Irish singer-songwriter Karan Casey and the fiddle-cello duo Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas, who will take part in the BCMFest Nightcap finale concert after holding workshops throughout via the Passim School of Music.

The festival will be available for viewing on Passim’s YouTube channel; schedule information and workshop registration is at passim.org/bcmfest. Access is $15 to $25 depending on the event.