Congratulations to Huntington Theatre for Winning the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award

Congratulations to the Huntington Theatre Company of Boston, the 2013 winner of the Regional Theatre Tony Award presented in New York City on Sunday, June 9, 2013.

Accepting the award on behalf of the Huntington were Michael Maso and Peter DeBois.

Here is a video of the acceptance speech.

Here are more details on this year's Tony Awards.

Here is a schedule of the 2013/2014 season at Huntington Theatre Company.

For year round details of cultural activities in Massachusetts visit IrishMassachusetts.com.

For visitor information go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com. 

Boston Irish Festival Taking Place on Saturday and Sunday, June 8-9 at Irish Cultural Centre in Canton

The annual Boston Irish Festival is taking place on Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9, at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton, about 10 miles from Boston. And everyone’s welcome, you don’t have to be Irish!

Now in its 23^nd year, the festival takes place on the spacious 46-acre grounds of the Centre, tucked away off Route 138, not far from the interstate highways. It boasts state-of-the-art athletic fields, walking trails, a children’s play area, and an authentic Irish cottage built by craftsmen to traditional specifications – thatched roof and all.

The festival’s main draw, of course, is great Irish music, on fiddles, accordions, pipes, flutes and guitars, taking place on various stages throughout the festival grounds.

The opening performance by fiddle star Eileen Ivers and her band Immigrant Soul, was postponed on Friday, June 7, due to the rain.  Instead she will return to the Irish Cultural Centre for a concert on Friday, August 2, 2013.

Throughout the weekend you’ll hear continuous Irish music, including ballad and pub songs, Gaelic songs, and Irish dance music.  Here is a complete musical line-up for the weekend.

Irish step dancers will display their fancy footwork, including Solas an Lae and Boston University's Step About Boston dance troupe.  Also, the Festival is hosting its first Irish Feis this year, brought to you by the Harney Academy of Irish Dance.

Through the weekend, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) will play traditional Irish games like hurling and camogie.  You'll also find a gathering of Irish setters and wolfhounds, a soda bread baking contest, an Irish tea house, author lectures, genealogy workshops and children’s cultural activities.

And let’s not forget the redheads. This year’s festival is aiming to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the most redheads gathered in one place. It takes place Saturday, June 8 at 2:00 p.m., so be there to help make history and get your photo taken.

The Irish Cultural Centre was formed in 1989 by a group of dedicated Irish leaders to preserve their cultural traditions in Massachusetts and the region for generations to come. The Centre has plenty of other cool activities, including a day camp for kids, lectures, music lessons, theatre and social gatherings.

You can find year-round details of Irish activities throughout the state, including festivals, parades, concerts, campus events, shops, pubs and cultural groups, by visiting IrishMassachusetts.com

For more details on visiting Massachusetts, go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com.

Irish Trad Trio Dylan Foley, Marta Cook and Grainne Murphy Perform an Afternoon Concert at Club Passim in Harvard Square on June 8

A talented trio of traditional Irish musicians, fiddlers Grainne Murphy, Dylan Foley, and harpist Marta Cook, perform an afternoon concert at Club Passim on Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 3:30 p.m.  Tickets to the show are $12 and can be purchased online or at the venue.

Murphy, from Lowell, Massachusetts was a student of fiddle master Seamus Connolly; she currently tours with Cherish the Ladies.  Three-time All Ireland champion Foley is a former student of Rose Flanagan in New York.  Chicago-born Cook has won the All-Ireland championship on harp and also a Grammy award for her performance with Yo Yo Ma and others.

Find more information on upcoming concerts at Passim's, located at 47 Palmer Street in Harvard Square, Cambridge.

For year round details on Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts, visit IrishMassachusetts.com. 

Burren Backroom Series Presents Irish Trad Trio Mick McAuley, Win Horan and Colm O'Caoimh on Wednesday, June 5

Two legendary musicians, accordionist Mick McAuley and fiddler Win Horan, both members of Solas, along with  Kilkenny-born guitarist, Colm O Caoimh, are appearing at the Burren Backroom Series at the Burren Pub in Davis Square, Somerville on Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. 

Tickets to the show are $23, and WGBH members receive a $5 discount.  Order tickets here. 

Here is a schedule of upcoming concerts in the Burren Backroom Series.

Find year round details on Irish cultural activities in greater Boston by visiting IrishBoston.org. 

For visitor information go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com.

Irish Singer Mai Hernon Giving a Workshop at Hibernian Center in Worcester on Saturday, June 1

Mai Hernon from County Sligo is leading a traditional Irish singing workshop at the Hibernian Cultural Center in Worcester on Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. 

The three-hour workshop is $60 per person and includes group lesson and individual instruction, along with refreshments, lyric sheets, and admission to Ms. Hernon's concert at the Centre in the evening.

Here is a calendar of upcoming events at the Hibernian Cultural Centre, which is run by Division 36 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. 

For details on year round Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts and the New England states, visit IrishMassachusetts.com

For visitor information go to MassVacation.com.

In Boston, US Congressman James M. Curley Lays Corner Stone for the New Hibernian Hall in Roxbury on May 30, 1913

On Sunday, May 30, 1913, Massachusetts Congressman James Michael Curley laid the corner stone for the new Hibernian Building on Dudley Street in Roxbury, before a crowd of over 5,000 people.  Curley was joined by numerous Irish leaders from the city, state and nation, including members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which organized the project in 1906 to create a headquarters for AOH divisions throughout greater Boston.

The ceremony was called to order by Patrick J. Larkin, president of the Hibernian Building Society.  Also on the dais were architect Edward T.P. Graham, past AOH National President Matthew Cummings, President of the Ladies Auxiliary Mrs. Ellen Ryan Jolley and AOH State President John H. Dillon.

"The building will contain one of the largest dance halls in Boston, on the top floor of the four-story building, as well as a large banquet hall," and various smaller rooms for meetings and cultural activities, Graham told reporters.  "On the first floor there will be two large double stores, with meeting room in the rear.  The basement contains eight bowling alleys, five billiard tables, store rooms and a boiler room.  The building is finely situated...near the Dudley Street Terminal."

Congressman Curley gave the keynote address on the Progress of the Irish People in America, in which he said, "The Irishman today stands for liberty and progress and his daily life is the most highly developed form of American citizenship," wrote The Boston Globe, which continued,  "He spoke of the character, purity and honesty of the Irish, who came here at the time of the 13 Colonies and made such a republic possible.  He told of the Irish in the Civil War.".

After the address, Congressman Curley "laid the stone with a silver trowel.  The crowed cheered and waved small American flags," according to the Roxbury Gazette weekly newspaper.  "President Larking placed in the corner stone a copper box containing a copy of the ddes, pictures, newspapers and other things which will be of interest to the future."

Hibernian Hall officially opened on October 1, 1913, and for nearly half a century served as a gathering place for the region's large Irish community.  Read more about Hibernian Hall in the recent issue of BITA's Travel & Culture Guide. 

Today Hibernian Hall houses the Roxbury Center for the Arts, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting arts and culture to the Roxbury community. 

For more information on Boston's Irish history, visit Irishheritagetrail.com.

Irish and Scottish Festivals in New England and Quebec in Summer 2013

Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill

at the Lowell Folk Festival in July 

Looking for outdoor Irish and Scottish festivals this summer in New England and Quebec?  The Boston Irish Tourism Association has released its schedule of the top festivals taking place in the region from June through September.

The season opens on June 7-9, 2013, when Irish fiddle legend Eileen Ivers opens the Boston Irish Festival at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton, and ends with the New Hampshire Highland Games at Loon Mountain on September 20-22, 2013, featuring Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas.

Irish traditional duo Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill, uilleann piper Paddy Keenan, Scottish singer Charlie Zahm and Boston’s own Dropkick Murphys and are just some of the performers appearing at Irish and Celtic festivals in New England and Canada this summer,

View the schedule of festival locations, dates and performers by visiting BITA's Festival Page.  More festivals are being added this spring and summer so check back for more festivals.

New England and eastern Canada have longstanding Irish and Scottish traditions dating back to the 18th century and continue through the present time, and a vibrant ethnic culture displayed through music, dancing and other folk arts. 

For year round details on Irish and cultural activities in these regions, visit IrishMassachusetts.com.