Columbus Day Weekend is one of the best times of year in New England -- autumn is about at its peak, but the weather is usually comfortable enough for a stroll in the foliage. Well, _this_ Columbus Day Weekend promises to be even better, since it begins and ends with BCMFest...literally.

On Friday, Oct. 9, the third BCMFest Goes West(ford) concert will take place,
and on Columbus Day (Oct. 12) will be the monthly BCMFest Celtic Music Monday show at Club Passim in Harvard Square, featuring local Irish music.

BCMFest Goes West(ford) has become a popular annual showcase for some of Greater Boston's best young Celtic musicians. The 2009 line-up includes the Folk Arts Quartet, whose tunes and songs combine folk fiddle styles with rich classical arrangements and a 21st-century sensibility to produce an entertaining hybrid "Chambergrass" music; Tri, a pipes-fiddle-guitar trio that presents exciting, enticing arrangements of traditional Scottish and Cape Breton music; and Katie McNally, the 2009 New England Scottish Fiddle Champion, an emerging talent with an ever-increasing store of original compositions to complement her traditional repertoire.

The concert will take place at 8 p.m., at the Westford Museum, 2-4 Boston Road in Westford. Admission is $15 for adults ($11 for members of the museum), $5 for teens, free for children age 12 and under. All proceeds benefit BCMFest. For more information, e-mail Museum@..., call (978)692-555, or see the museum Web site at http://www.westford.com/museum.

BCMFest Celtic Music Monday will shift the musical map to Ireland, with a
two-part show hosted by Emerald Rae. First up will be Bridget Fitzgerald, a stirring performer of sean nos (old style) unaccompanied singing in Irish and English. A Connemara native and former member of the groundbreaking all-female band Cherish the Ladies, Fitzgerald has performed at various clubs and festivals in the US and abroad, including ICONS.

Also featured will be the duo of Sean Connor and Liam Hart, who anchor weekly sessions at the Banshee in Dorchester and Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square. Connor, a native of Co. Mayo, has cultivated a unique, high-octane brand of fiddling, supported by the flute and guitar-playing of Hart, who also is a robust singe r of songs in English and Irish.

Tickets for Celtic Music Monday are $12, $6 for members of Club Passim, WGBH and WUMB. For reservations, go to www.clubpassim.org or call 617-492-7679.