Acclaim Celtic Dancers FREE Year-End Showcase featuring Vancouver's Celtic rock rebels The Whiskeydicks & special guests Grinning Barretts
🎉 Get Ready for a Mighty Craic! 🍀
What’s the Craic? 2025 – Reels, Rebels & Rock
Presented by Acclaim Celtic Dancers
📅 Wednesday, June 18, 2025
🕔 5:00pm–8:00pm
📍 Lions Pavilion, Maffeo Sutton Park – Downtown Nanaimo
🎟️ FREE! Reserve your spot now at acclaimcelticdancers.ca
🎉 A Celtic Rock Concert Event Under Open Skies
Brace yourself, Nanaimo — this year’s What’s the Craic? is more than a celebration. It’s a full-scale Celtic rock explosion, headlined by one of the most electrifying live bands in the Pacific Northwest: The Whiskey Dicks and special guests The Grinning Barretts.
For one night only, the Lions Pavilion will transform into a powerhouse of punked-up bagpipes, fiddle-fueled rock, and stories that reach across time and tradition. This free outdoor event is your invitation to stomp, cheer, and feel alive — with a few reels, a lot of rebellion, and the kind of Celtic soul you won’t find anywhere else on Vancouver Island.
🎶 THE CONCERT: Live Celtic Rock That Will Shake the Seawall
This year’s Craic is all about live Celtic Rock music — and the lineup is nothing short of electric. We’re not just throwing a concert — we’re unleashing a high-octane Celtic rock experience that fuses soul-shaking melodies, foot-stomping rhythms, and storytelling that echoes across generations.
🍀 Headliner: The Whiskeydicks (Vancouver)
🔥 “Celtic Gypsy Punk Rockers” — and absolute stage beasts
The Whiskey Dicks are a genre-bending musical force. With blazing fiddle riffs, driving guitar, and an energy that swings from cheeky ballads to riotous reels, they blend Celtic, punk, folk, gypsy, and rock into something completely their own.
Their shows are infamous — part concert, part pub night, part wild campfire jam session. But beneath the rowdy fun lies depth: rich storytelling rooted in love, loss, rebellion, and community. Whether they’re reimagining old folk songs or belting out originals that make you laugh, cry, and dance all at once, The Whiskey Dicks deliver pure musical catharsis.
🎻 Expect:
Fiddle solos that set the air on fire
Harmonies soaked in grit and whisky
A live experience that borders on spiritual chaos — in the best way possible
☘️ Special Guests: The Grinning Barretts (Victoria)
🔥 Traditional Celtic fire with a punk-rock soul
The Grinning Barretts are a fierce and fast-growing Celtic punk band out of Victoria. Mixing aggressive rhythms with soaring bagpipe and fiddle, their sound channels the raw spirit of traditional Irish and Scottish music — but turned up to eleven.
Their songs are rooted in story: working-class grit, anti-colonial rebellion, immigrant resilience, and the wild joy of a good night out. Every performance is a rally cry, a toast to the underdog, and an invitation to let loose.
🎸 Expect:
Punk with a Highland pulse
Tight hooks, big choruses, and fast reels
Anthems that will have you shouting along before you even know the words
🍻 Outdoor Liquor Garden 🍻
For the first time ever, What’s the Craic? is going fully licensed — and you’re invited to raise a glass right in the park!
Enjoy your drink outdoors in our liquor garden , expertly run by the awesome team at Travel Bar. Whether you’re into cold beer, smooth cocktails, or something with a Celtic twist, Travel Bar will be pouring the good stuff all evening long.
☘️ Epic music. Cold drinks. Sea breeze.
This is how we do Celtic rock in Nanaimo.
🎈 Free Bouncy Castles for the Kids! 🎈
We’re bringing BIG fun for the littlest dancers — with FREE bouncy castles right in the heart of the action!
That’s right — while the Celtic rock rages and the dancers light up the stage, your kids can bounce, laugh, and play in an area nestled right inside the music and movement.
This isn’t a side attraction — it’s part of the celebration! Because at Acclaim Celtic Dancers, we believe the whole family should feel the rhythm, the energy, and the joy of Celtic culture.
☘️ Music. Dance. Community. And now… BOUNCES.
All for FREE.
🎤 The Stories Behind the Sound
Both bands bring something rare to the stage: authentic storytelling. Whether it’s through lyrics passed down from the Celtic diaspora or new verses forged in the fires of modern life, this music speaks to what it means to belong, to struggle, to rebel, and to celebrate.
Expect moments between songs where tales unfold — of old country myths, of lost lovers, of whiskey-soaked wars and kitchen parties that saved lives. These aren’t just bands. These are bards for a new age, and they’ve got stories you’ll feel in your bones.
🎶 Live Music Interludes & Dance Features by Acclaim Celtic Dancers & Friends
Acclaim Celtic Dancers (and special guests) will spontaneously light up the dancefloor with choreographed dance interludes that connect ancient Celtic tradition to modern-day celebration — bringing rhythm, community, and spectacle.
🌟 Why We Do It
At Acclaim Celtic Dancers, we believe Celtic culture belongs to everyone. That’s why our year end showcases are free, inclusive, and open to all ages. We want the community to experience the richness of Celtic music, dance, and story — without barriers, without paying for tickets, and without limits.
So grab a lawn chair, bring your friends, and get ready for a night where the music is loud, the stories are real, and the craic is mighty. This is our 2nd annual Year End Showcase!
🪑 Bring Your Own lawn Chair
🌯 Food trucks on-site
☀️ Rain or Shine – The Craic Goes On
💻 Reserve Your Spot at acclaimcelticdancers.ca
💚 About the Organizer – Acclaim Celtic Dancers
Acclaim Celtic Dancers is a Nanaimo-based cultural performance collective and recipient of six major business awards, including the 2025 Canadian Choice Award, 2025 Canadian Quality Business Award, and four 2024 Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce Awards — including Diversity & Inclusion and New Business of the Year.
Led by award-winning Artistic Director Desirée Pahl, Acclaim brings Celtic dance into contemporary spaces, builds community through cultural celebration, and curates events like What’s the Craic? to showcase both tradition and transformation.
💚 Thank You to Our Amazing Sponsors! 💚
We couldn’t bring the magic of What’s the Craic? 2025 to life without the generous support of our incredible sponsors.
A heartfelt thank you to:
✨ A Vivid Edge Salon and Spa – for bringing beauty and brilliance to our community
✨ Afro Fusion Sharqi Dance – for celebrating cultural connection through powerful performance
✨ Salsa Dancing Nanaimo – for keeping the rhythm alive and the dance floor full all year long
Your support helps make this FREE celebration of music, dance, and culture possible — and we’re so grateful to stand beside you in community.
Also check out other Music events in Nanaimo, Entertainment events in Nanaimo, Concerts in Nanaimo.
