Started by Felix Meagher with 30 students and seven tutors in 2000, this year it involved more than 220 students who had the choice of lessons in everything from the banjo to uilleann pipes, to pub songs and blues.

A James Joyce readers’ group, poetry recitals and an exhibition featuring the spiritual artworks of Melbourne Celtic artist Deirdre O’Reilly were also part of the rich ferment of creativity. 

Meagher said he started the school because he wanted his children and others to have the opportunity to learn Celtic music and dance in an environment where they were surrounded by it, “where they hear it all the time”.

Meagher, a Melbourne musician and composer with the bush band Bushwahzee, was involved in the early Port Fairy Folk Festivals, married a Port Fairy girl, Christine (nee Sully), and discovered the strong Celtic heritage of nearby Koroit.

He said the school’s program had grown “naturally” since 2000 through suggestions from students and tutors.

“Celtic music is our home, but we visit lots of other places,” Meagher said.

The idea to incorporate African music in this year’s program came from the school’s Irish flute tutor Andy Rigby who was taken with the strong connection between Celtic music and village music in places such as Soweto in South Africa.

The tin whistle, drums and ukulele are common to both music genres.

Meagher said many of those who came to the six-day school, which ended on Wednesday, were families from Melbourne that were keen to connect to their Celtic backgrounds.

Among the regulars was filmmaker Ray Argall, his partner Lucinda Clutterbuck and their son Lewis, of Sydney, who have been coming for 14 years.

Argall, who has made many films about the lake school, said a big attraction for him was the school’s focus not on students’ achieving, but joining in and learning.

His partner Lucinda and their son Lewis have led the school’s Art Shed program for youth for the past few years. The program gives young people an opportunity to hang out and be creative between their classes.

Lewis Argall, 20, has been coming to the annual Lake schools since he was six and was involved in its Kids Group activities for many years.

“We got too old for that and needed to do our own thing, so we started the youth group,” Lewis said.

“First we made a newsletter, then five years ago we shot a short film.”

For the past two years, the Art Shed has created a mural at its home at the rear of the Koroit Scout Club, this year doing one on Koroit’s main street.

Lewis said he regarded the Lake School as an extension of his family, having socialised with his peers at the event since childhood.

Lewis, who was this year made a life member of the Lake School for his contribution to the Art Shed and other youth programs, said the school was “a stress-free environment”. 

“It’s just like mucking around,” he said.

Meagher said giving participants the opportunity to develop and create a personal style was more important to the school than promoting excellence.

“Tutors are asked to give everyone a go,” he said.

While the school’s big selling point was traditional Celtic music, it was only “teaching them the alphabet.

“They can use the classics to create their own tradition,” Meagher said.

While the school’s prime focus is on inclusion, it also fosters talent through its Stars on the Lake program.

The program each year selects a group of competent students who receive mentoring for six months in performing professionally as a group, and many Stars on the Lake have done just that.

This year, and for the past few years, Stars on the Lake groups have been invited to perform at the Port Fairy Folk Festival.

Meagher said the school’s growth meant he no longer knew the names of all involved but he was determined to “keep the heart of the event”.

Class sizes have been capped to enable good student rapport.

Meagher’s wife, Christine, said the increase in student numbers meant the traditional grand ceilidh (gathering) at the end of the school, which was an opportunity for students to showcase what they had learnt, had been divided over two nights.

“It starts at 6pm and finishes at midnight,” Christine said.

“Everyone is dancing. It’s people with different abilities, all of them feeling safe.”

The ceilidhs are open to the public.

Meagher said he was happy with the way the school had evolved and hoped it would continue to develop.

The school is supported by volunteers, many of them from Melbourne’s Monash University and from Apollo Bay. It brings up to 600 people to the town each year who fill its venues with many raucous organised and informal get-togethers. 

The school’s success led to an invitation to be involved in the founding of a similar event in Numurakah last October, but Meagher said he was committed to staging its event in Koroit.