For the first time ever, the red-hot Celtic Punk Band, The ‘Real McKenzies’ are coming to the Sonora Celtic Faire. The Sonora Celtic Faire is the first original Celtic Faire in modern times, and it all started in the Gold Rush town of Sonora.

The 33rd annual Sonora Celtic Faire takes place Friday, March 8 through Sunday, March 10 at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds, 220 Southgate Drive, Sonora.

The Real McKenzies will be performing on both Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10, on the Black Oak Casino Main Stage.

It can be said, without any exaggeration, that The Real McKenzies are a national treasure.

Founded in 1992 by the larger than life, punkrock poet laureate, Mr. Paul McKenzie, this merry band of miscreants has spent a quarter century circumnavigating the globe to bring the McKenzies gospel to an ever-adoring throng of rebels, Scallywags and ne’er do wells. There are not many bands that can boast of a 25-year career as staggeringly adventurous, wildly tempestuous and utterly death-defying as The Real McKenzies. It would be a serious mistake to write them off as just another Celtic punk band. They are an unstoppable juggernaut of touring mayhem. A ferocious troupe of insanely talented minstrels, storytellers and entertainers melding traditional acoustic and electric to create a sound like no other. Their list of accolades is long. From sharing the stage with the likes of NOFX, Rancid, Flogging Molly, Metallica and Shane McGowan to appearing in film, books and video games to signing with the legendary Fat Wreck Chords, their story continues to astound.

Along with the Real McKenzies, the Sonora Celtic Faire will have seven stages of non-stop entertainment over the weekend. Other headline bands include: The Wicked Tinkers, Tempest, Golden Bough, Culann’s Hounds, Black Irish Band, Cooking with Turf, Mince & Mashed, Erica & Friends, Michael Mullens, Glenn Morgan, The Emerald Pipe Band, Stage, Stag & Thistle Pipe Band, and many more.

The Sonora Celtic Faire offers much more than music, including the only International full-contact Jousting Championship on the West Coast, a full-contact armored foot combat championship – Knight Fights – as seen on the History Channel, over 100 Celtic-themed art and craft vendors, Celtic Dancers, Celtic food court, Whiskey tasting building, 400 costumed Celtic History performers, Scottish Clans, Celtic kids area, magicians, jugglers, and fire-breathing dragons.

For ticket information, visit http://sonoracelticfaire.com/tickets.html.