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Celtic song runs in her blood

Burnaby resident Sarah Ann Chisholm takes the BC Highland Games stage in Coquitlam on Saturday.
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A Celtic singer who grew up in the area where the first Scottish immigrants in Nova Scotia landed will pay tribute to her heritage at the BC Highland Games on Saturday.

Sarah Ann Chisholm, whose ancestry includes Scottish, Irish, Acadian French, Basque and English, looks forward to the performing at the annual Coquitlam games — an event she said reminds her of the Highland gathering back home in Antigonish every July.

The Pictou County native was raised in the same region as the greatest Celtic entertainers in Canada, namely the Rankins, Barra MacNeils, Natalie MacMaster, Ashley MacIsaac and the late Rita MacNeil.

The Burnaby resident was invited to make her debut at the BC Highland Games by organizer and bagpiper Mike Chisholm, who saw her play Maritime Margaret at CelticFest Vancouver last year.

Here, she will sing the Canadian and American national anthems, The Queen and The Flower of Scotland at the opening ceremony.

Then, at 1:15 p.m., Chisholm will be joined by harpist Rebecca Blair, a faculty member at Coquitlam’s Place des Arts, guitarist Andrew Hillhouse, singer/whistle player Marco Del Rio and BC fiddle champion Michael Burnyeat.

Their final song? The crowd favourite My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.

“Connecting with your cultural roots can be a very powerful experience,” Chisholm said, adding, “I suppose it must feel similar when someone is out on the field in their kilt and has a rush of adrenaline as they go to toss that caber and everyone is cheering them on. The energy of an event like thi, and how it can connect with people on such a deep level is a unique feeling, which makes the experience beautiful and incredibly important to pass on.”