formed in killarney, county kerry, ireland, the pan celtic festival was organised as a music festival to be held every spring, to promote the modern cultures and celtic languages through the medium of music. it was originally entitled "gwyl gerdd bach" (welsh for "small music festival"), by con o'connaill, but later changed to its current name. in may 1971, the first festival took place in killarney; and featured performers from wales (phyllis and meredydd evans), ireland (scoil na toirbhirte), and brittany (les tregerez group and alan stivell).