The 14th annual Pittsburgh Irish Festival brings back a lot of the favorites that people have come to expect -- most notably, Gaelic Storm, Tommy Makem and the Makem Brothers -- while adding a group that's cherished in the Celtic community.

		Pittsburgh Irish Festival With: Music, dance, food, marketplace, children's activities, storytelling, dance workshops, ceili dancing, Irish dogs display tent, Gaelic Mass (10 a.m. Sunday) and more. Where: Chevrolet Amphitheatre, Station Square. When: Today through Sunday. Admission: $9; $3 kids 3-12; $23 three-day pass; 412-232-1537.

"The one we're most thrilled about is Altan," says festival director Nan Krushinski. "They're one of the best in the world, right up there with the Chieftains. It was a real coup for us to get them because they're not often in the country."

Altan formed in the late '80s and took its name from Loch Altan, a lake in northwest Donegal that is birthplace of lead singer and fiddler Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh. With a Celtic folk style that is more lush and lyrical, Altan isn't exactly an Irish Festival party band.

"Not at all," Krushinski says, "but they're the best traditional musicians in the world and the musicians in town are thrilled that they are coming."

As for Gaelic Storm, how do they always manage to land them in Pittsburgh on the second weekend of September?

"They love it here," Krushinski says. "We're one of their four favorite festivals they play all year around."

TODAY

4 p.m.: John and Adam Marthens (Amphitheatre Stage)

4:30 p.m.: Mark Guiser (Amp)

5:30 p.m.: Red Hand Paddy (Amp)

6 p.m.: Bad Strad (Celtic Stage)

6:30 p.m.: The Wild Geese (Amp)

7 p.m.: Matthew Craig and Kerry Tipper (Celtic)

7:45 p.m.: The Young Dubliners (Amp)

8 p.m.: Hooley (Celtic)

9 p.m.: Seven Nations (Amp)

9 p.m.: Ceili Dancing and Instruction (Celtic)

10:15 p.m.: Gaelic Storm (Amp)

SATURDAY

Noon: Pittsburgh Youth Ballet (Amp)

12:30 p.m.: Shovlin Academy of Irish Dance (Amp)

12:30 p.m.: Gaelic Symbol Drawing with Sean (Cultural)

1 p.m.: Bell School of Irish Dance (Amp)

1 p.m.: Dennis Doyle (Celtic)

1 p.m.: Beginning Gaelic Language with the Gaelic League (Cultural)

1:30 p.m.: Burke Irish Dancers (Amp)

1:30 p.m.: Children's Irish Dance Matinee (Celtic)

1:30 p.m.: Alan Irvine -- Tales of Celtic Romance (Cultural)

2 p.m.: The Clumsy Lovers (Celtic)

2 p.m.: Comhaltas Ceoltoir ireann Instrument Demonstration and Seisuin with Bodhran, Fiddle, Banjo, Whistle, Flute, Guitar and Mandolin (Cultural)

2:15 p.m.: Cahal Dunne (Amp)

3:15 p.m.: Makem Brothers with Mickey and Liam Spain (Amp)

3:15 p.m.: David Kincaid and the Irish Volunteers (Celtic)

3:30 p.m.: Alan Irvine -- Tales of Celtic Romance (Cultural)

4 p.m.: Pittsburgh Ceili Club (Celtic)

4 p.m.: Celtic Guitar Workshop with Daithi Sproule (Altan) (Cultural)

4:15 p.m.: Matthew Craig & Kerry Tipper (Amp)

4:30 p.m.: Uilleann Pipe Workshop with Michael Vignoles (Cultural)

4:45 p.m.: Dennis Doyle -- Harp (Celtic)

5 p.m.: Celtic Images (Cultural)

5:30 p.m.: Gaelic Storm (Amp)

5:30 p.m.: Mike Gallagher (Celtic)

5:30 p.m.: Bodhran Workshop with Michael Vignoles (Cultural)

6:45 p.m.: Makem Brothers with Mickey and Liam Spain (Amp)

6:45 p.m.: The Young Dubliners Unplugged (Celtic)

7:50 p.m.: Pittsburgh Irish Festival Educational Award to Garrett Coleman (Amp)

8 p.m.: Altan (Amp)

8 p.m.: David Kincaid and the Irish Volunteers (Celtic)

9:15 p.m.: The Clumsy Lovers (Celtic)

10 p.m.: Gaelic Storm (Amp)

10 p.m.: Ceili Dancing and Instruction with Hooley and Liz Shovlin (Celtic)

SUNDAY

9 a.m.: Patrick Regan (Amp)

10 a.m.: Gaelic Mass (Amp)

11:30 a.m.: Patrick Regan (Amp)

Noon: Pittsburgh Irish Reelers (Amp)

Noon: Beginning Gaelic Language (Cultural)

12:30 p.m.: The Rolling Scones (Celtic)

12:30 p.m.: Bodhran Workshop with Michael Vignoles (Cultural)

1 p.m.: Cahal Dunne (Amp)

1 p.m.: Dennis Doyle -- ANAM CHARA: Irish Saints in Song and Story (Cultural)

1:30 p.m.: David Kincaid and the Irish Volunteers (Celtic)

2 p.m.: Makem Brothers with Mickey and Liam Spain (Amp)

2 p.m.: Gaelic Symbol Drawing with Sean (Cultural)

2:30 p.m.: Dennis Doyle -- Harp (Celtic)

2:30 p.m.: Comhaltas Ceoltoir ireann Instrument Demonstration (Cultural)

3 p.m.: Tommy Makem and Friends (Amp)

3:30 p.m.: The Clumsy Lovers (Celtic)

4 p.m.: Celtic Images (Cultural)

4:30 p.m.: Michael Murphy and Shannon River Band (Celtic)

5 p.m.: Gaelic Storm (Amp)

5:30 p.m.: Dennis Doyle -- History of the Irish Harp in Song and Story (Cultural)