In this KGNU interview, Rodger Hara speaks with Neil Gillette and Lauren Douglas, organizers of the Elizabeth Celtic Festival, taking place July 19–20 at Casey Jones Park in Elizabeth, Colorado. Gillette, a festival founder, shares the event’s origins in 1993 and its evolution into a full-scale celebration of Highland games and Scottish culture, featuring athletic competitions, Highland dancing, and pipe band performances. Douglas highlights the diverse music programming, ranging from traditional Celtic tunes to Celtic rock, all performed by local Front Range talent across two stages. Additional offerings include hands-on harp and dance workshops, cultural demonstrations, artisan vendors, and clan gatherings. The festival emphasizes accessibility, community, and cultural heritage, with details available at elizabethcelticfest.org. (Interview: 6/25/25)
Rodger Hara: Welcome to KGNU, Gail Neil Gillette and Lauren Douglas from the Elizabeth Celtic Festival. How are you guys tonight?
Gail Neil Gillette: We’re great.
Rodger Hara: Neil and Lauren, would you like to introduce yourselves and talk a little bit about what your responsibilities are with the festival? And tell my listeners about the history of the festival, too.
Gail Neil Gillette: I’m one of the founders of the festival, back in 1993. If we hadn’t taken two years off for the pandemic, this would be the 33rd year. We started in Kiowa as part of the Elbert County Fair and did that for two years before outgrowing it.
We were in Kiowa for a total of 13 years, then moved to Elizabeth, which is seven miles closer to Denver. We’re about 35 miles from Denver—about a 45-minute drive. We’ve had great success in Elizabeth, and I think part of it is the park where we hold the event—Casey Jones Park on the east side of Elizabeth—is just beautiful.
It’s filled with ponderosa pine trees. We’re at 6,500 feet, so it’s a little cooler than Denver, which really makes for a nice ambiance. So that’s kind of our event in a nutshell. It’s patterned after a Highland Games. You’ll see traditional Scottish athletic events—the heavy events like the caber toss, hammer throw, and sheaf toss.
They do nine different events, so there’s always someone tossing the caber or another object. It’s a healthy Scottish athletics competition. The athletes are like brothers and sisters, competing for personal bests. It’s a well-run event—Hank Bradshaw does a great job. We also have Scottish Highland dancing—my wife, Sherry Gillette, runs that—and I run the piping and pipe band competitions.
Those are kind of the core of any Highland Games throughout the world. And then we have all this other lovely stuff, including performances, Scottish clans, artisans, vendors, and living history. There’s a lot to see.
Rodger Hara: Lauren, please introduce yourself and talk about your role with the festival.
Lauren Douglas: I’m Lauren Douglas. I’m a newcomer—I’ve only been involved since 1995. I handle the non-piping music. We’re very proud that we honor the entire tradition of Celtic music.
We have music ranging from very traditional to Celtic rock, and we also draw on our pool of local talent. We haven’t had to book anyone from out of state—we have people lined up to come play, and they’re all wonderful, from up and down the Front Range.
We have two stages. The outdoor stage is the Caledonia Stage. On Saturday, we have Sgian Dubh—that’s my band—we play fairly traditional Scottish tunes and songs. Then we have Wolf Loether and the Growlers, which is a mix of vocal music and piping. The same piper plays with the first two bands.
Bringing us home is Chancer’s Hooley, which is more of a sing-along, beer-drinking Celtic rock band.
Then we have a building on the grounds that we name Ceilidh Hall for the festival. It starts with a harp workshop. Maryanne Goodland is a well-known local Celtic harper, and she has run this hands-on workshop for years. She brings little harps, and people can actually learn to play a couple of tunes in an hour.
We also have a hands-on family ceilidh where people can learn social dances, led by the Heritage School of Irish Dance. Then Maryanne does a harp performance, followed by a performance from the Heritage Dancers.
We also have Rhiannon the fiddler—she plays and dances in the Cape Breton style. The day in the building wraps up with a song circle, a round-robin mix of songs and tunes. Anyone is welcome to bring an instrument, sing, or just listen.
Then on Sunday, at the outdoor Caledonia Stage, we have Gobs O’ Fun, Off Kilter, and Ballyhooley—that’s a new band for us this year. They’re from the Springs, or actually from Manitou or Divide—out that way. They’ll be a fun group.
In Ceilidh Hall, we’re again doing the harp workshop and the family ceilidh, followed by harp and Heritage Dancer performances. We wrap up a little early on Sunday—at 4:00 p.m.
Rodger Hara: What days is the festival being held?
Lauren Douglas: It’s always the third full weekend in July. So this year, that brings us to the 19th and 20th.
Rodger Hara: July 19th and 20th—Elizabeth Celtic Festival. Where can people go to learn more about the festival, how to get there, and what all is going on? Do you have a website?
Gail Neil Gillette: Yes, the Elizabeth Celtic Festival website is elizabethcelticfest.org. If you Google “Elizabeth Celtic Festival,” it’ll probably be the first result. It’s a great website with lots of information—the schedule, maps, and how to get tickets.
You can also just show up and get tickets. It’s not a highfalutin event—it’s a wonderful event.
Rodger Hara: Can people bring dogs?
Gail Neil Gillette: No, unless they are service animals. We respectfully ask people to leave their pets at home. It gets hot, and we deconflict the space by not having a lot of dogs there.
We do have an area called “Dogs of the British Empire,” but again, we ask that pets stay home.
Rodger Hara: Well, all of that sounds very interesting. What time do the festival grounds open on Saturday the 19th, and how late does the festival go?
Gail Neil Gillette: It goes from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, and on Sunday it starts at 9:00 and ends at 4:00 p.m.
Rodger Hara: You’ve given people a lot of great information. The website, the dates—July 19th and 20th—at Casey Jones Park on the east side of Elizabeth, south and east of Denver. Thank you very much for your time. Enjoy the festival and good luck getting it set up and running. I look forward to seeing you there.
Gail Neil Gillette: Thank you.
Lauren Douglas: We’ll see you there.
