My First Celtic Festival

This past weekend, Saline hosted its annual Celtic Festival, and I made my first visit. While I had read all of the previews and asked around, I still was not really sure what to expect from the festival. What I saw I was very happy with.

Whenever there is a big outdoor event like the Celtic Festival, it helps to have some nice weather. And while many of the people that I talked to while there made sure to comment about the heat (it was 91 on Saturday without the heat index)the sun was shining the whole day and there wasn't even a threat of bad weather.

Aside from it being extremely hot,the other thing most brought up to me was the fact that everyone either had a smile on their face or appeared to be having a good time, which is something I noticed myself. Again,this may be the weather,but I also think it has to do with the general atmosphere of the festival. I think one of the main things that made the atmosphere so great were the people who were working as the old-time Celts. While obviously knowledgeable about what they were talking about (swords, music, birds, haggis) many of the demonstrators also had a winking sense of humor,but not to the point where they where making light of the festival. To me, this seems like a great way to make sure the general public will get a kick out of the Celtic Festival. I know there are plenty of people out there (myself included) interested in history and how people used to live back in the day, but there are also plenty of people who aren't. Plenty of people who may not be super interested in the historical aspects still go to the Celtic Festival to see what it's about. If all the demonstrations were dry, straight historical recreations and completely lacked a sense of humor, it seems possible that the general 'everyone is having a great time' feeling may not be so prevalent.

However, it also helps that the people doing the demonstrations were good anyways, so maybe my last paragraph is moot. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at this year's Celtic Festival, and look forward to next years,as well as upcoming outdoor events in Saline like Summerfest coming up at the beginning of August.