Celtic Adventures

As some of you may have realised, or having read my blog from the beginning already known, I love all things Celtic and I love Renaissance type fairs. Today, I got to combine those two loves when I attended the 22nd annual Sonora Celtic Festival. It seemed a little strange that it was called the 22nd Annual Sonora Fair since every time I had attended it in the past, it had been held in Angels Camp! However, it turns out that Sonora is where it started and Sonora is apparently where it will continue from this year forward.

The Mother Lode Fairgrounds is considerably smaller than the one in Angels Camp but that was kind of nice. It made for a more compact setup with a lot less walking involved. It will take some time before folks figure out where everything is but from my point of view, that is not all bad. I actually had no problem at all getting a seat at the Black Irish Band and Tempest shows and let me tell you, this is not often the case. I think there were 10 bands performing in all, as well as 3 pipe bands performing on the grounds. There were English Country Dancers (the Merrye Prankstyrs) and I also watched some Irish and Scottish Dancing. I always love wandering around and looking at the handmade items from soap, to pottery, to ironware made by Michael the Blacksmith. There were also kilts, plenty of Celtic inspired jewelry, t-shirts, swords and bucklers (for both grownup kids and littl'uns), and music playing everywhere. Of course, all the bands had their CDs for sale but there was also a fellow playing the hammered dulcimer and another playing an instrument I had never seen before. I should have asked what it was. He used a bow like a violin but it had wooden keys that he pressed to change chords as well. Very strange looking it was but a lovely mournful sound it produced.

And of course, there were plenty of re-enactors. There were several modern clans in attendance but there were also plenty of guilds demonstrating everything from royalty, to ironwork, making of shields, and everything else. The demonstration I always like is done by Alex. I wish I knew his last name and guild affiliation. He puts on a demo where he gets dressed bit by bit in everything a Scot would have worn back in the 16th century. He explains that the kilt (which we all see the warriors wearing in every Scottish melodrama) would never have been worn in war as it was far too valuable. Sheep were not yet in Scotland and wool was very dear. Not only that, it might take your woman a year or two to weave that piece of fabric and woe betide the man who came home with a sword thrust thru it. Alex is one of the few people who can take history and make it interesting without going over the top to dumb it down and make it into "entertainment". Whenever possible, I try to catch his demonstrations at the smaller fairs.

Well, that's all for now. I will try to get some knitting pictures up this week. I finished the Fair Isle hat and also block number two of the Great American Afghan. Both of them need blocking to finish them off and I need to send the hat to New Jersey to have Jen determine any fit problems before I make more in the stable colors. Bye for now.