Celtic Festival

Newport hosted the Celtic Festival and Highland Games Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  We went over to the Lincoln County Fairgrounds  around 10 on Saturday.

As we entered the gate there were some Highland Cattle.  Note the long hair.  They are much smaller than the cattle we are familiar with..

We went first to the Music Stage as that is where the opening ceremony was scheduled to take place.  We got there in time to hear Paddy in the Mist.  They were very good.

  

The master of ceremonies was a native of Scotland who served as an officer in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

The presentation of the colors included an eclectic age group.

After the presentation of the colors the master of ceremonies performed a formal sword routine to the sound of bagpipes.

Next came the Celtic Heratage Parade lead by the Southern Oregon Scottish Bagpipe Band.

 

Many people were in kilts, showed their tartans, or in other costumes.

 

Dogs of celtic heratage were allowed in the parade as well.  This one sported the family tartan.

This young man was the drum major for the Kell’s Pipe Band from Portland.

They only brought a small portion of their band.

Here is another dog—this one has a kilt on.

Nana’s Irish Pub had a concession stand on the grounds and I had Lamb stew and Wayne had a corn beef sandwich.  We each had a beer.

Our next stop was the Dance Stage where Mistral was performing.  They are a trio specializing in traditional songs and dances from Brittany.  Here is one of the trio playing a hurdy-gurdy.

They got the audience to participate in the dances.  The man on the left was the instructer.

 

While they prepared the stage for the Ceili of the Valley dancers, the Kell’s Pipe Band entertained us.

The bagpipe was practically on top of me.  The drum major makes twirling a manly art.

The drummers got very creative with their drum sticks in between hits.

 

Ceili of the Valley performed the type of social dances that are done at Ceilis.

The weather started turning grey and cold so we went home.

Sunday morning we went to the First Presbyterian Church in Newport.  This is their alter area.

They were hosting their first ever Kirkin of the Tartans as part of the service.  This is a picture of the rehersal with all the tartan flags displayed.  This service came about after the ban against wearing tartans was ended in Scotland.  England had also banned bagpipes.

The service was very nice and the people were very friendly.

We went out to lunch and then home for awhile.  We went back to the Celtic Festival at 3 o’clock as there were some dancers that we wanted to see.

The group we wanted to see was Murry Irish Dance out of Portland.  The little girl in this group was a newbee  but they let her perform several dances with them.

These two girls were dressed alike but they are not sisters.

This is a brother and sister team.  They are into competitive dancing.

The girl with the long blond hair is also into competitive dancing.

The music for the dance was provided by the dance teacher on flute like instruments except that you blow into the end.

I caught them in action in this photo.

We had a very enjoyable time at the Celtic Festival but we never got over to the Highland Games.  I guess next time.