Join Us for the Inaugural Nimbus Arts Oyster Art & Fiddle Fest
An afternoon of Brine + Beauty + Kinship in support of Community Arts!
MAD FRITZ will be flowing some delicious suds to pair with the amazing foods!
This treasure of a festival will bring together our community of 250 guests for an afternoon of art, culinary delights, and salty Celtic fiddle playing, shanty sing-a-longs, dancing, general community frivolity, including a 3-day pop-up ocean-inspired art sale!
Sunday February 23, 2025 Noon – 4:00pm
649 Main St. St Helena, CA 94574
Tickets go on sale January 28th. at 10 am on Eventbright
Ages 21+
Mighty Musicians
The line up for this fest will surely “YO HO blow the man AWAY!”
You won’t want to miss the foot stomping, kick-up-your-heels dance party with the famed Celtic punk band, The Walker Roaders from Los Angeles, CA.
As both renowned originators and practitioners of the genre, the supergroup, as it has been described, consists of James Fearnley co-founder of The Pogues on accordion, Ted Hutt co-founder of Flogging Molly on acoustic guitar, and Marc Orrell multiinstrumentalist with Dropkick Murphys on banjo and mandolin. Completing the line-up are storied producer Brad Wood on bass and coveted drummer Bryan Head.
To kick off our festivities we are delighted to have The Oystermen from Damariscotta, Maine who have joined us to bring their craft of storytelling, shanty tunes, and fabulous fiddle playing to our shores!
Carter Newell has been fiddling for 50 years and farming oysters for almost as long! He is a marine biology PHD, a shellfish and coastal ecosystems researcher, and co-owner of the Pemaquid Oyster Co. with Smokey. He has played for old time country dances for decades, is now fiddler with The Oystermen and his Newell Family band comprised of 3 generations of fiddlers. He enjoys the down east Maine and Canadian Maritimes fiddle traditions, as well as Celtic and old tine styles.
Smokey McKeen has been playing guitar, banjo, and accordion for 5 decades and is the co-owner of Pemaquid Oyster Co. with Carter. He is a well-known folklorist collecting songs from the Maine Coast and the Maine Woods for decades.
Together they form The Oystermen, mixing traditional acoustic music with songs about oysters, mermaids, and life along the Maine coast as well as some old tine down east humor.