Guieldu at the Celtic Night in Soto d’Ayer
Soto d'Ayer
We closed a rain-soaked night beneath the shadow of Soto’s ancient tower.
On Sunday 7 September 2025, Soto d’Ayer became, for one day, the capital of Asturian Celtic music. The Miravalles festivities hosted another edition of the Nueche Celta, the third since the event was revived in 2022 after years of silence. The festival had enjoyed its golden years between 1996 and 2007. And with the 12th-century Tower of Soto watching over the village from above, as it has done for eight centuries, music once again filled the streets of Soto d’Ayer.
The line-up left no doubt about the ambition of the evening. Banda Gaites El Gumial opened at eight, followed at nine by the pandereteres Herbamora. At 10:30, Llan de Cubel took the stage, one of those names that needs little introduction in Asturian folk and which has been a major reference point on the scene for decades. Sharing the evening and the stage with them for the second time in our still-short history was, without exaggeration, one of the reasons this date will remain marked on Guieldu’s calendar.
The weather, however, did not make things easy. Rain and a gloomy sky took some of the shine off the moments before we went on stage to close the bill after Llan de Cubel. But much of the audience stayed on, with a good number of die-hard fans in the front row who were not prepared to let the drizzle spoil the party. They sang and danced in the rain as if the sky were full of stars. With that unmistakable “this is Asturias!” energy, we brought the night to a close giving everything we had, as we do at every show.
The Celtic Night format was particularly popular in Asturias during the 1980s and 1990s. Most of those events gradually disappeared, but some are now beginning to return, such as the Celtic Night in Soto d’Ayer and the Nueche Celta in Candás. Others have managed to keep going for decades, such as the legendary Noite Celta de Porcía, which celebrated its 40th edition in 2024 and where we also had the privilege of performing, once again alongside Llan de Cubel.
The rain may soak us to the bone on some nights, but there is no downpour capable of putting out the Celtic fire that Asturias has been keeping alive, summer after summer, for four decades now.
© Photos: Analia Pello