Folk/world

Frank Malley is no longer on the Ceili Group board, but he's been at all save the very first festival and remains deeply involved. He's proud that what was once a single-day event is now a four-day weekend of music and merriment, a good reason for lovers of Celtic music and dance to flock to the region. A singer himself, Malley says he's particularly pleased to be involved in an evening devoted entirely to song — at most sessions singers are given short shrift for the time they "steal" from the instrumentalists. At the Mermaid Inn on Thursday night singing is the rule, with instruments permitted only for accompaniment when the Boyce family and Eugenia Brennan perform.

Friday is given over to the dancers. The grand ballroom at the Irish Center should be packed with the set dancers enjoying the live band. Saturday is the Irish festival we know and love, learning a bit of Irish language and how to make a St. Bridget's Cross in between dance classes and music workshops. In the evening flute legend Laurence Nugent shares the bill with piping phenom Paddy Keenan. On Sunday, if you've ever dreamed of hearing Mass the way the ancestors did — in Irish — the Ceili Group has arranged for that, followed by a farewell afternoon concert of local talent like McDermott's Handy.

Thu.-Sun., Sept. 8-11, $10-$25 ($35 all-fest pass), Mermaid Inn, 7673 Winston Road, and The Irish Center, 6815 Emlen St., 215-849-8899, www.philadelphiaceiligroup.org.