Bring on the Celts!

Towards the end of August, we went to our local Celtic Festival, where both the Scottish and Irish heritages were honored. I've never been to a fest where both were combined; it's usually one or the other and, beings as I'm both, I was really excited to go.

I was a little scared about how the kids would react to the bagpipes. They're not fans of anything really loud and Miss B kind of freaks out in really noisy, crowded situations. But our youngest, Lugnut, absolutely loved them! Miss B liked the Irish dancing and Bubba liked the kettle corn. I'm not gonna lie... that kid loves his food!

It was extra enjoyable as we spent the weekend with my parents and brother, who came and stayed overnight so we could partake in two days at the festival. My brother was upset he couldn't find a food vendor that sold haggis, as he really wanted to try it. I think he just really wanted to gross the rest of us out! But he and Gil enjoyed the whiskey, at least.

This festival was apparently the first one of its kind here. Gil and I went to the inaugural Hig.hland Games in my last place of residence, too, and though it was good, it was not near as large as this was. It had more and larger pipe bands, but the vendors were much more numerous at this one. Granted, it was both Irish and Scottish, not just Scottish, so that added to it a bit. But I think with some scheduling help, they can have quite the annual festival on their hands! It was so hard to choose what to do because they had the Irish dancing at the same time as the piping competitions which were going on at the same time as some of the Highland games. They didn't have a good program detailing the where and when and down-times were down for everything, so it wasn't possible to see all that we wanted... which was everything! As it was, I got small snippets of everything... just enough to make me frustrated I couldn't see more!

All in all, it was a great weekend and excellent family time. Totally worth it. And I cannot wait until next year's festival!

I call this the "Grand Entry" but I that's what we call it at a powwow... how about the Opening Ceremony?! I love seeing both the Scottish and Irish flags being carried.

There's few things more beautiful to me than respect shown to Old Glory... and a line of pipers wearing kilts!

I like how all the men are standing around watching this gal toss her caber. She did better than a lot of the men I watched.

Even a bit of modern Scots-Rock! Awesome.

And a pic of me... I actually think I look really good in this picture. "Good" is definitely not how I've been feeling about my physical self lately so it must be a testament to how great it is for a Celtic soul to enjoy some traditional time!!