PRESQUE ISLE -A 16-year-old fiddling sensation and an award-winning folk artist are coming to town to present an evening of traditional and folk music.

Canadian roots musicians Dave Gunning and Samantha “Fiddling Sam” Robichaud, will perform Saturday night at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Wieden Auditorium. Celtic Weave, a group of Aroostook County performers who blend Celtic and Acadian music will open the show.

Gunning, a Nova Scotia native, recently earned the Folk Recording of the Year award from Canada’s East Coast Music Awards for his album “Two-Bit World.” The songwriter, who calls Gordon Lightfoot his hero, has produced four CDs since 1996. Many of his songs reflect the sea, storms and stories of his native land.

Robichaud, who hails from Riverview, New Brunswick, most recently was nominated for Canada’s East Coast Music Awards in the instrumental artist and roots-traditional categories for her latest album “Vivacious.” The lively eastern Canadian fiddler with Acadian roots, who is well known for her reels and jigs, has released four albums since 1997.

Gunning and Robichaud are in the middle of an international tour, which includes stops in New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston and Nashville. Their northern Maine performance is possible because of a cooperative project between New England Celtic Arts and Foreign Affairs Canada, according to Phill McIntyre, president of the arts organization.

Next year, McIntyre said, his organization will present the first statewide Celtic festival of its kind, with performers from all over the world playing at four different locations throughout Maine. His plan is to rotate performers from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and the Canadian Maritimes, as well as U.S. performers with Celtic roots, through the four venues.

“Instead of having one place where everyone would have to travel to participate in the festival, we are literally going to travel the festival to specific areas,” McIntyre said.

As you might guess, McIntyre is looking to stage one of the festival venues in Aroostook County, because of the large Franco-American population and Celtic heritage in the area.

McIntyre said Gunning and Robichaud are a first taste of things to come.

“We want people to get used to the quality we’re going to have at the festival,” he said. “We see this as a great opportunity to come up and do something, and hopefully it will be very successful.”

Robichaud and Gunning will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at UMPI’s Wieden Auditorium. Tickets cost $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, $8 for children 12 and under and $32 for families. For more information, call New England Celtic Arts at 562-4445, or visit www.necelticarts.com. Rachel Rice can be reached at 768-5681 and rrice@downeast.net.