A Weekend of Celtic Heritage

by Sherell Williams

Monday, June 15, 2009

The 16th annual Potomac Celtic Festival, a culture heritage festival, returned to Leesburg over the weekend.

The two-day festival, sponsored by the Potomac Celtic Alliance, is a celebration of all Celtic nations and their cultures. The festival boasted a diverse array of activities spread out through the 1,200 acres of the Historic Green of Morven Park.

This year’s festival featured entertainment from musicians, bands and dancers, including Scottish quartet, Cantrip, internationally known fiddle player Bruce Molsky, the Irish Inn Mates, the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance, the Bog Band and several others. Celtic performance artists from dancers to storytellers like Margaret Chatham and Gary Lloyd and poets were some of the acts at the two stages on the grounds.

One of the festival’s biggest attractions were the Living History exhibits. These exhibit camps are recreated with the intention to portray two millennia of Celtic culture and life ranging from the Iron Age tribes to the modern Celtic warrior of World War I. Attendees had the opportunity to visit the exhibits and ask questions of the Twentieth Legion, the soldiers and civilians of ancient Rome or the Irish Guards, the fourth Regiment of the Household Brigade, among others.

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16th Annual Potomac Celtic Festival

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Festivalgoer Ban Morfit and his Irish wolfhounds, Kyna and Cearbhall, were popular among the attendees at the Potomac Celtic Festival at Morven Park on June 13. Attendees were allowed to bring dogs on the grounds as part of the festivities. (Sherell Williams)

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Members of the MacMillan-Bircles Memorial Pipe Band of Rockville, Md., march during the parade ceremony at the Potomac Celtic Festival held at Morven Park the weekend of June 13 and 14. (Sherell Williams)

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Jean Neil, 50, of Olney, Md. embraces her inner child and gets swirls and curls painted on her arm at the Body Parts tent at the Potomac Celtic Festival on June 13. (Sherell Williams)

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Festivalgoers Maren Mayhew and Barry Schlessinger take a moment and relax in orthopedic rocking chairs that were on display at the Potomac Celtic Festival on June 13. (Sherell Williams)

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Roderick Morrison’s Celtic Treasures tent was a popular vendor at the Potomac Celtic Festival, featuring items from T-shirts to shot glasses and jewelry. (Sherell Williams)

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Vendors like The Bee Folks impressed attendees with their artistic creations such as candles, soaps, lip balm and lotions made out of exotic honeys and pure beeswax. (Sherell Williams)

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Aside from the performance tents, Festivalgoers could visit the tents of participating clans and societies featured at the festival. The clans and societies strive to educate and help people find their roots while promoting the culture of the various regions represented at the festival.

The parade ceremony, one of the festival’s biggest events, was a bagpipe- and color guard-led parade of Celtic clans and societies. There were plenty of spots for relaxing on the grass but also beneath the tents near the food area where attendees could grab a bite to eat of Celtic favorites shepherd’s pie or haggis, or comfort foods like quesadillas or Italian sausage.

At the workshop tent, volunteers and performance groups led educational workshops, teaching everything from clogging to Celtic fiddle styles and Celtic language. Dozens of craft exhibits and vendors lined the green, offering attendees a chance to get up and browse during the breaks in the performance schedules of the six tents.

The Potomac Celtic Festival will return to Leesburg in the summer of 2010 for its 17th anniversary.

Tagged: festival, Morven Park

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