Ah, twas quite a nice festival yesterday in Blowing Rock. At The Blue Ridge Celtic Festival, Contagion would have been quite at home -- there were more than a few kilts in attendance.

It was a small festival, but a very entertaining and fun place. It was held on the grounds of Chetola Resort, quite a nice place. There were a good number of merchants there and in a way resembled a mini-Renaissance Festival -- except with better music.

Throughout the day there was Celtic music playing. No, there weren't many traditional Irish songs (the ones you associate with St. Patty's Day), but there was a definite Celtic slant to everything heard. Enter the Haggis was the headliner and was selling band stuff -- which led to the uttering of such phrases as "haggling with the Haggis."

There was also a blacksmith there by the name of Alwin Wagener. He was quite impressive and we watched him creating a corkscrew for quite some time. Amazing stuff. I really wanted the wizard or dwarven door knocker he had on display, but I just couldn't quite afford it. He does make some very nice stuff.

The beers were also excellent -- they had a large selection of celtic beers (not just Guinness and Killians). The day was overcast and cool, but it never actually rained, so the day turned out excellent. Much of the afternoon was spent sitting in a chair and listening to the excellent music. I strongly suggest you go next year if you're anywhere nearby and like Celtic music. Next year I think I shall try and arrive Friday night and leave Sunday so I can just spend the entire day sipping and listening.

Posted by: Ogre at 04:09 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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