Throughout the week of the Antigonish Highland Games, there is no lack of musical talent! Check out our event schedule to see the various concerts and ceilidhs happening!
Here, we will feature our entertainment for the on-field events such as the Concert Under the Stars, Saturday Afternoon Ceilidh Tent, Saturday Night Ceilidh Tent and Sunday Closing Ceilidh Tent!
Stay tuned as we continue to announce the performers who will grace the stage at the 161st Antigonish Highland Games!
2026 – 161st Antigonish highland games
Concert Under the Stars Lineup
Anna Ludlow
Anna is a Nova Scotia-born, Ottawa-based musician. She combines traditional Cape Breton and Scottish style Celtic fiddle music with contemporary sounds, and writes and sings about her life back in Nova Scotia. Her latest record ‘Wherever you go’ was released in August, 2019 and had multiple nominations She also was nominated for entertainer of the year for the 2020 Capital Music Awards in Ottawa and was nominated and won 2020 Solo/Duo artist of the year for the Capital Music Awards! Anna Is Literally an East Coast Kitchen Party.
Brian MacDonald
Brian MacDonald grew up in Westmount, Cape Breton. He spent a great deal of time surrounded by Gaelic music and culture in Inverness County. He is married with five children and living in St. Andrews, Antigonish County. Brian has been playing the fiddle for many years for dances and concerts around Cape Breton, Ontario and Detroit and formed a group a few years ago called the Antigonish County Fiddlers. A Gaelic learner, he has been instrumental in organizing Gaelic language programs for adults and students in the Antigonish area.
Heather MacIsaac
Born and raised in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, an area known for its strong Scottish Highland heritage, Heather MacIsaac was exposed early to the pipes as a highland dancer, then later began playing the pipes as a solo and pipe band competitor. After years of composing melodies as a pastime, piper and multi-instrumentalist Heather MacIsaac has decided to share her late-night creative endeavours. The Moon’s Daughter, Heather’s debut album, is a collection of original compositions performed on Highland and small pipes, whistle, piano, and voice. She has begun exploring the deep culture of her family’s Scottish Gael ancestry which has shaped her life. In her search for the past decade to find her own voice in piping she has been influenced by the classical piano lessons of her youth, playing as an Irish style session regular at a local pub, and ubiquitous fiddle music of the area. With the release of her Juno nominated album “The Moon’s Daughter”, Heather feels she has overcome her earlier struggles with performance anxiety and is ready to let others know how she has developed a musician.
Maureen Fraser
Antigonish County native, Maureen Fraser, has been step-dancing most of her life. She began taking lessons from Margie Dunn, in early childhood and continues to attend seminars and workshops to this day. She has danced at various concerts and festivals throughout the Maritimes including the Broad Cove Concert and the Celtic Colours Festival. She’s appeared on ASN-TV’s Breakfast Television, has adjudicated step dancing festivals in PEI and was the director of the Antigonish Highland Games “Concert Under the Stars” for over six years.
Junior Fraser
Junior Fraser is a guitarist who grew up in Ohio, Antigonish County and now lives in Pomquet, Antigonish County. He started playing guitar at the age of 14, learning by ear, and hasn’t stopped since. He’s a regular on the concert and ceilidh scene in both Antigonish and Cape Breton performing alongside many musicians over the years.
Susan MacLean
Susan MacLean, a native of Washabuck now residing in the Sydney area of Cape Breton, comes from a deeply musical background. Renowned for her piano talents, Susan has performed at various events over the years and is a notable presence at events like Celtic Colours and KitchenFest!. She has taught Cape Breton-style piano accompaniment at Colaisde na Gàidhlig / the Gaelic College in St. Ann’s, since the mid 1990s, impacting hundreds of students and recorded 30 online instructional videos with Colaisde na Gàidhlig / the Gaelic College, which is sold through their Learn with Us programming, She has also recently taught at the Acadian Festival of Traditional Music and Dance in Bar Harbor, Maine. A board member of the Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association, Susan is a founding committee member of the Treasures of Youth (Stóras na h-Òigridh) committee set up by the Nova Scotia Highland Village Museum. Her enthusiasm for Cape Breton-style piano comes from influences within her own extended family including her late grandfather Michael Anthony MacLean, late uncles Carl and Hector MacKenzie, cousins the Barra MacNeils, as well as great aunt Theresa Morrison and great uncle Joe W. MacLean. In addition to playing piano, Susan is also a composer and fiddle player who has been featured on several recordings over the past number of years.
MacLeod School of Highland Dance
A collection of incredible dancers from the MacLeod School of Highland Dance performing several traditional dances.
Grant School of Highland Dance
A collection of incredible dancers from the Grant School of Highland Dance performing several traditional dances.
Performers from the Ships of 1801 Productions
The Ships of 1801 are an original dramatic concert series performed by local and recognized musicians in period costume. Song, dance, and Gaelic verse are tied together by live narration, commemorating the culture that early Scottish settlers brought with them to Nova Scotia. Their latest production, “Moses Coady and the Sisters of St. Martha’s Go to the Keppoch” is already garnering rave reviews, and with the talent on display it is not hard to see why.
Smith School of Highland Dance
A collection of incredible dancers from the Smith School of Highland Dance performing several traditional dances.
July 11th, 2026 – Saturday Afternoon Ceilidh Tent
Chrissy Crowley
Chrissy Crowley is a traditional fiddler and recording artist from Cape Breton who, since the 2007 release of her debut album, has been captivating audiences on an international level. Coming from Margaree, Chrissy has been inspired by the traditions of artists who have gone before, embracing the music of her roots and making it her own. Chrissy’s third album, Last Night’s Fun, won the 2013 Canadian Folk Music Award for Instrumental Solo Recording of the Year. Chrissy has also performed, recorded, and toured with award-winning Cape Breton supergroup Còig for many years.
Jason Roach
Jason, a Cheticamp lad born and raised, has crafted a dynamic piano style all his own. Leaning in his early years from the legendary Maybelle Chisholm-MacQueen of nearby Margaree, Jason began performing publicly by 1997 and hasn’t stopped since. He would go on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree from St. Francis Xavier University and soon join and travel extensively with musical acts like Sprag Session, Step Crew, and Còig. When not gigging locally or touring internationally, Jason can be found teaching piano at École de musique Raveston Music School in Cheticamp, and working on his other craft, Outer Strathspace Folk Art.
JULY 11TH, 2026 – SATURDAY NIGHT party in the park
COLDSTREAM and oak manor CEILIDH TENT
BEECH HILL
COASTLINE
Coastline is a young, high-energy band made up of Cape Breton University students. They play a mix of music that brings something for everyone, combining strong vocals, fiddle, guitar, drums, and bass.
Formed through live music events at Cape Breton University, the band is quickly carving out their space in the Cape Breton music scene and can be seen performing at venues all over the island.
Coastline features Breagh Kelly (lead vocals), Ryan MacNamara (lead vocals and acoustic guitar), Luke MacKinnon (electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin, and vocals), Ben Smith (fiddle), Cameron Sollazzo (drums), and Dawson Cecchetto (bass).
July 12th, 2026 – Sunday Closing Ceilidh
Richard wood
For more than 3 decades, Richard Wood has blown away audiences around the world with his traditional-born, fiery brand of Celtic music. His CFMA nominated, and ECMA award winning 8th album, UNBROKEN, which was mastered by legendary, multi Grammy Award winning Bob Ludwig from Gateway Studios has reviewers praising it as some of his best work to date!
Richard has received 5 ECMAs, plus has many Music PEI awards to his credit, and Twice he has earned the Don Messer Memorial Trophy. Along with winning countless championships, as both a step dancer and fiddler, he is also an accomplished pianist.
Richard has brought his highly sought after, uplifting, and energetic brand of music around the world; extensively touring Australia, Europe, Asia, and all across North America at spots like Epcot at Disney World, The Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall; and for special performances at televised events and programs, like CBC’s “Canada Day on Parliament Hill”, “Good Morning America”, “The David Letterman Show”, “Celtic Electric”, and Cape Breton’s jewel, “Rita MacNeil and Friends”.
Richard has played for Prime Ministers, Governor Generals, the Queen, princes, princesses, and the Emperor of Japan. He has also toured the world and performed with heavyweights like The Chieftains, Shania Twain, and as a featured performer in “Bowfire”. Richard continues to headline concert halls and music festivals around the world, but of all of his accomplishments, he is most proud to have entertained armed forces in the North Pole, Bosnia, and twice in Afghanistan.
MacLean’s Magazine named Richard one of the Top 100 Canadians to watch in the 21st Century, but they forgot to mention that it would be so darned hard to sit still while we watched and that his boundless energy would leave us out of breath and still wanting more!
Adam Young
Adam Young is a sought-after pianist from French Road, Cape Breton. Adam created and directed the Louisbourg Playhouse’s popular music and comedy revue, Cape Breton Lyrics & Laughter, which has been performed close to 400 times over its 20 year run. His solo album, Yearbook, won the 2022 East Coast Music Award for Roots/Traditional Recording of the Year. He has a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination under his belt, as well as several Music Nova Scotia nominations. He has released a tunebook featuring 189 of the 365 compositions created as a part of his Yearbook project, and can be found playing concerts, ceilidhs, square dances and sessions throughout Cape Breton, and has showcased his talents across the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and Australia. In addition to his solo album, Adam has released two albums with Dara Smith-MacDonald and Brent Chaisson, and can also be heard on recordings by Colin Grant, Jason MacDonald, Eric Angus Whyte, Marilyn MacKinnon, Scottish/Austrian fiddle and bagpipe duo Jamie MacDonald and Christian Gamauf, and Scottish fiddler Isla Ratcliffe.
Brent Chaisson
Brent is a multi-instrumentalist that comes from a long line of Chaisson Family fiddlers of eastern PEI and has been immersed in music his whole life. Starting on the fiddle at age 5, he quickly grew to love traditional fiddle music from PEI, Nova Scotia and beyond. Brent picked up guitar at age 12 and began to accompany local fiddlers at concerts and at the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival. In 1996, he began learning drums and along with his cousins and brothers, started the Celtic rock band ‘Kindle’. Kindle had much success releasing a self-titled record in 2000, garnering many Music PEI awards and an ECMA nomination. Brent has been fortunate to backup many acts over the years and has toured around Canada, USA, and Europe. He has shared the stage and supported acts like: Troy MacGillivray, Andrea Beaton, Tim Chaisson, Ashley MacIsaac, Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar), The Trews, Anastasia DesRoches, Great Big Sea, Shooglenifty, Gordie Sampson, and more. Brent currently resides in Miscouche, Prince Edward Island.