Aye, that's good craic - a weekend at the Irish Fair of Minnesota

-
The Aoife Scott Band, 2017


It was our second year at the Irish Fair, and this time my friend and I went Saturday and Sunday; Saturday was a beautiful warm, sunny day. A grand day for listening to The Aoife (ay-fuh) Scott Band. Aoife is a member of one of the first families of Irish music, the Black Family (her mother is Frances Black; Mary Black, her aunt, and Roisin O, her cousin), but she totally stands on her own. She is relatively new, at least as far as recordings, having one album ("Carry the Day") under her belt, but she engaged the audience right from the beginning, and it seemed there was quite a good crowd at the main stage. There were covers, but also original tunes, and she told the stories behind their inspiration or creation. Her band was fabulous, including a guitarist (her 'fella'), a fiddler/bouzouki player, bodrhan/flute player (the bodrhan is a hand held Irish drum), who also wowed us with some crazy leg Irish dancing at the end of the set. If you're reading this and you're in Milwaukee or elsewhere in the US, keep an eye out for The Aoife Scott Band as they are on tour until October (they plan an escape before winter comes).



On Sunday, we caught Katie McMahon's set, which was a little more traditional and folk based. Katie was part of the original Riverdance cast, and I saw her a couple times with the touring company. She not only sings, but plays the harp. Lovely. She was accompanied by a band (fiddle, guitar, autoharp and assorted percussion and a backing singer) but also on a few of the reels, four members of a local Irish dance troupe performed on stage. Katie lives in the Twin Cities, so it's nice to say she's one of our own.



It's not just music, but food (which is like typical fair food - fried, and everything has an Irish twist - corned beef, stout, whiskey, etc. added) and drink (no Guinness 😞 ), but also booths with Irish/British clothing - kilts, tams, t-shirts, jewelry, photos, baked goods (I missed out on my Jameson Bailey's cake this year), chocolates, pretty much anything you could want to buy; there is a tent for Irish dogs, our favorite is the Irish Wolfhound, so big, but gentle; and watching different sports, like hurling or Gaelic football; many dancing exhibitions and cultural tents.







Some treats: soda bread, chocolate stout pie, chocolates


The fair is free, so whether you plan on it or not, you are apt to catch some fabulous, 'deadly' music (deadly is a positive thing; those crazy Irish). Did I mention that it was FREE? Yep. You may have to pay for parking, and you'll pay for your food and bevvy (as they say), but I don't think the prices (you pay with tickets) are out of line, but you get all the free music and people watching you can handle. It's all over for this year, but mark your calendars for next August.

Slainte


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Barcelona - the first two days

-
Day two of Mr. Magoo Does Europe, and it's been pretty awesome so far. But one of these days, I am going to get where I'm going on the first or second try. Maybe even the third. Honestly though, I'm so used to it, I don't even know what I would do if it happened. I walked around Barcelona yesterday, just trying to get my bearings (insert belly laugh), but I did eat some pretty amazing food, like chocolate filled churro (omg), and seafood paella, which I'm not sure how authentic it was, but I liked it; and I got in over 17,000 steps, not bad for getting here around noon and taking a siesta later in the day. Today was my big day, meaning I got up at 7:00 am to take a three country tour that lasted until 7:30 in the evening. For me the focus was getting to Andorra, a tiny country in the Pyrenees surrounded by Spain and France, and in fact, co-ruled by the two countries. First stop was Baga, in Spain, where I had the most delicious chocolate filled pastry that was was n...
Read more

A little more of Paris Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Montparnasse Tour

-
Image
Have I mentioned it was hot in Paris? Have I mentioned, since we're friends, that I sweated in places I didn't know could sweat? I didn't know my knuckles could sweat, yet they did. Aside from the heat, which was a dry heat, so, you know, hot, but not humid, I really enjoyed my time in Paris, but I did feel rushed, my three days weren't enough. I did not consume nearly enough delicious croissants or other pastries, or crepes...oh, I could go on. My one set thing I really had to do, stop me if I told you already, but I wanted to climb to the top of Notre Dame; in fact, I trained for it. I booked a tour of Ile de Cite and Notre Dame so I could ensure getting the chance without spending hours in line. It was totally worth it; the guide for the tour was excellent, actually an Englishman, with a great background in medieval French history and iconography, and full of fabulous information about France through the centuries. We went into Notre Dame, which is magnificent, and l...
Read more

All aboard to Marrakech

-
Image
 I will spare you all the details of the seemingly endless drive from Fes to Marrakech; I don’t mind long drives, I mean the drive from Apple Valley to South Dakota is long and mostly boring, but this was interminable. Nothing to be done about it, however, and we did get a distant glimpse to the High Atlas Mountains and experienced quite a number of service station facilities. We finally arrived in Marrakech in time for dinner and an early night for me. It was another full day of experiencing a centuries old city in less than 24 hours; sensory overload would be the theme of this trip - the pictures don’t do it justice because you don’t get the sounds, the smells and even the feel of the thousand year old stones under your feet, but I’m trying. We met our local guide Abdullah who was like a walking fortune cookie, he had aphorisms for every situation, a great sense of humor and history and the coolest accent. Our first stop was the Koutubia Mosque, built in the 12th century, and it’...
Read more