The Celtic Junction Arts Center building has remained dark since our Bealtaine edition, but while programs thrive virtually, the embers are burning strong. We are planning 2020’s fall concerts, classes, working away in the library, and expanding our horizons by reaching out to other groups across the country.  Soon we will be able to share with our community one of those national opportunities!

Saturday, August 28th is the culmination event for our outreach program over the summer of 2020, as CJAC joins in with politicians, Irish centers, and other Irish Arts organizations in a virtual forum to discuss how Ireland and Irish America can emerge from this pandemic together and stronger.  CJAC’s Executive Director Natalie Nugent O’Shea will be part of the discussion panel at 11:30am (CST) Opening a New Chapter: Irish arts, theatre and music and the places in which we gather – picking up the pieces, chaired by our good friends in Washington, Solas Nua.

Opening remarks by Ireland’s president Michael D. Higgins will kick off the event at 10:00 (CST).  The virtual forum will include speakers such as Mick Mulvaney, US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland; Congressman Richard E. Neal, Chair Congressional Friends of Ireland, Chairman Ways and Means Committee US Congress;  Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, former Mayor of Belfast and Editor of the Irish Echo; Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Boston; Ambassador of Ireland to the USA, Dan Mulhall, and many more.

Whether your interest is business, arts, travel or philanthropy, this day-long event will address the future we are facing together. Registration closes on Wednesday 26^th August 2020. Register here to join us.

The Big Irish Echo Campfire: A Virtual Forum Across 50 States

Our Theme: Irish America Coming Together to Survive the Pandemic and To Emerge Stronger and Better (while ensuring the bridge to Ireland remains open).

Start time: 8:00 am PST/ 9:00 am MST/ 10:00am CST/ 11:00 am EST Featuring: Speakers covering major sectors including Business, Labor, Pandemic Lessons from the Great Hunger, Theatre, Arts, Politics, Literature, Sport, Heritage Museums, Irish Centers, Irish American Community Organisations, Film, Start-Ups, Travel & Tourism, Media, College Partnerships, Irish Studies, Philanthropy and Irish Peace Process.

Friday 28 August 2020 (schedule below is listed in CENTRAL TIME)

10am Opening: Welcome from Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland

10:15am Hope and Humanity: What Can Irish America Bring to our Understanding of the Covid Pandemic?

10:50am In This Together: Irish American Societies and Networks Leading the Coronavirus Fightback Chair: Eileen Scully, Founder, The Rising Tides, New Haven, CT

11:30am Opening a New Chapter: Irish arts, theatre and music and the places in which we gather – picking up the pieces

12:10pm Leading from the Front: Reimagining the role of our Irish Centers

12:45pm Amid a Challenging Outlook, Promoting a Two-Way Street of Trade and Investment Across the Atlantic

1:15pm For Entrepreneurs Timing is Everything—Challenges and Opportunities for Start-ups in a Pandemic

1:50pm Film-Making Frozen: What Now For Those Who Tell Our Stories in Film — and For The Cinemas in Which We Watch Them?

2:15pm The Importance of Diplomacy in the Age of COVID Ambassador of Ireland to the USA, Dan Mulhall

2:30pm The Show Must Go On: What will Irish Festivals of the Future Look Like?

3:10pm Digging Deep: Ramping up Irish American Philanthropy in a Changed World 4:10pm 

3:50pm Coming Back Stronger and Better with Labor at the Helm 4:50pm 

4:25pm From Two Million Visitors to Zero — and Back Again. Reviving Tourism from the US to Ireland 

5:05pm Irish America at the Vanguard of the Irish Language Revival 

5:30pm Close

6pm Join us for a post-Campfire treat