Note: Story has been updated to clarify ticket prices.

Sheila Graziano, who's been the artistic director of the Saline Celtic Festival every year since its maiden voyage, 16 years ago, has a very clear sense of the event's mission.

“This is not like a St. Paddy’s Day party,” says Graziano. “This is a cultural event, and it’s educational, but it’s such a festive environment that people are learning all these aspects of Celtic culture in a fun way.

“We go way back in time, with all of the historic presenters, and the encampments, and the Vikings, and the jousters—plus the music is mostly traditional, which I also think is important, since it celebrates a traditional culture,” she adds.

Indeed, the music headliner for this year’s fest, which is Saturday at Mill Park Pond in Saline, is the Cathie Ryan Band. Ryan, a Detroit native, is a former member of the trad-Irish, all-female group Cherish the Ladies. When she left that band and went the solo route, though, she pursued more of an American folk-pop direction, with just a hint of trad-Irish elements.

The Cathie Ryan Band that comes to the festival, though, will be a decidedly trad-minded ensemble.

“Yes, we definitely expect her to focus on the trad side, especially given the members of her band,” says Graziano. “She’ll have Patsy O’Brien, the brilliant Celtic guitarist, who’s performed here a few times, and her fiddler is Matt Mancuso, who used to tour as the lead fiddler in the Lord of the Dance.”

Another headliner booked by Graziano is Chicago Reel, a sextet based in the Windy City that includes a few Irish natives, a Brit and a couple of Americans. “They’re a really dynamic collection of musicians”—featuring 2 fiddles, tenor banjo, button box and piano, among other instruments—“and their music is very rousing and lively,” says Graziano.

Graziano is also excited about the group North Atlantic Drift, a Canadian trio that, between them, display amazing facility on fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, Uilleann pipes, Highland pipes, whistles and bodhran. “They really are masterful musicians,” Graziano says.

“I’m also smitten with the trio Blue Fiddle, who have an unusual background for a Celtic-music band, in that they’re from Arkansas,” says Graziano. “They do a lot of original material, but it sounds really traditional, and they have a way with words—their lyrics definitely include some social commentary.”

And acting as host is Beth Patterson, who has played the fest a few times, mixing her bouzouki-driven mix of Celtic and Cajun music with her snappy, witty repartee.

One new event this year is the feis (pronounced “fesh”), an Irish dance competition. “The feis is typically very much a sanctioned, highly-regulated competition, but what we’re doing is a public feis, not a sanctioned competition, so it’s open to anyone who wants to compete for fun, rather than trying to advance through the ranks of the Irish dance-competition circuit,” explains Graziano, who is a veteran traditional step dancer herself. This feis will also include a singing competition.

Another new event this year is Celtic Survivor, a series of sporting events with multiple rounds, with competitors being eliminated each round until there is a champion.

The Highland games return this year after not being part of the fest in 2010 due to a schedule conflict. It’s always a popular event, in which kilt-clad athletes compete in various Scottish feats of strength and athleticism, including the caber toss. That’s where the men try to “launch” the caber, which looks more or less like a telephone pole, but is really a tree trunk.

The Dark Ages Living History Association will be on hand, re-enacting the daily events of that era, which include an axe-throwing demonstration and full-contact jousting. (The jousters at the fest will have wooden tips on the ends of their jousting poles, so when the wood breaks, that’s how they know they have a “hit.”) This group will also present a herding dog demonstration.

Millie the Mill Pond Monster (a whimsical variant of the Loch Ness Monster) will be on hand, as usual, and she is now joined by a brood of three of her progeny.

The clan tent always draws a lot of traffic, “because people are just really interested to see if they can trace their Scottish heritage, and to see if they belonged to a particular clan,” says Graziano.

The Friday night before the fest, things kick off with a Pub in the Park event, featuring entertainment by both Patterson and the Road Kilt Celt-rock band, with plenty of food and grog. Dance and music workshops will also be conducted, and the Friday event also includes jousters, merchants and the sometimes-boistrous Mr. Pretty Legs Kilt competition.

And an “unofficial” pre-fest event is the Thursday night Celtic Dinner and Whisky Tasting at Mac’s Acadian Seafood Shack in Saline.

Saturday’s festivities, before the music and dance and encampments begin, commence with a 5-K morning run, and then opening ceremonies that celebrate the Celtic traditions of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

After 16 years at the helm, and despite an enormous amount of advance work, Graziano still gets jazzed at every festival. “I’m constantly amazed by the wealth of talent that we bring to the event, and the ability of the musicians to segue in and out of different bands and configurations over all the years that they’ve been performing here.

“And I’m always impressed, and touched, by the stunning renditions of old tunes and songs, combined with the new songs and the creativity of the young, up-and-coming artists. It is a lot of work, by the whole Festival committee”—all of whom are volunteers, including Graziano—“but when the day arrives, and you’re surrounded by all this incredible music and dance and culture….Well, it’s just a wonderful thing.”

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com