I for Ingram

 

I have already mentioned Ingram and its annual Celtic Festival in one of my previous posts. Their stone circle (Stonehenge II), a copy of the one in England, was constructed in 2011.

It is situated in a pretty area, with the Guadalupe River and an open-air theater nearby. The Visual Art Center and a souvenir store are there as well.

Next year, on April 8, a total solar eclipse will be celebrated at Stonehenge II. The eclipse will be in the path of the stone circle, so you can observe the occurrence at the site. Be sure to bring special protective-type glasses (sunglasses are NO good for that) to keep your eyes safe.

The next Celtic Festival is going to be there on April 29. It used to be an all-weekend-long event. After the covid-time break, the festival was turned into a one-day affair. We preferred the previous version, though. You could see more during the three days and enjoy it more than just in one day. You are simply not able to watch everything at the same time.

On September 23/24, 2023, Texas State Arts and Crafts Fair takes place there.

When you come to visit the site, do not miss the copies of the Easter Island heads. You can find them at the parking lot, within walking distance from Stonehenge II.

To learn more about the place and the planned events, visit the website: http://www.hcaf.com/stonehenge-ii/ .

Click here to see an earlier post that I made after our visit to the Celtic Festival in Ingram.

Celtic Festival in Ingram

Our Scottish genes took us to the Kerr County Celtic Festival, which was held in Ingram, TX. This year's edition of the event was a one-day thing only (contrary to the weekend-long festival two years ago).

We watched the sports tournament - well, we tried to see it, but no benches with leveled seat rows (as they had there before) + people covering the sight made it difficult since three competitions were going on simultaneously.

Nevertheless, we did enjoy it all, not only sports but also traditional Scottish music and dances.

San Antonio Pipes and Drums

 

One of the dance schools from San Antonio had a showcase with Scottish dances presentation.

Only in Texas you can camp and relax within the Stonehenge area.

Camping at Stonehenge, enjoying the showcase

The statues there are a good sight for taking pictures.

Texas Scottish Festival Again

Last weekend we enjoyed this year's edition of the Texas Scottish Festival and Highland Games. It was a very enjoyable event and we had a great time. As usual, Murder The Stout was the most enjoyable bands of all — at least in our opinion. Well, others were good too, Murder The Stout is just our favorite one.

I have read on the news that the Scottish festival will no longer be held at the Arlington Stadium. It was the last time there and in the next year, it will be organized somewhere else. Who knows where?

Murder The Stout

Part of North Texas Caledonian Pipes and Drums

More traditional music and a great bagpiper

Sport tournaments

Kilt ans a cowboy hat - Texas Scottish style

Our Texas Scottish Festival 2016

The 30th edition of the Texas Scottish Festival & Highland Games took part last weekend. I am very happy we were able to attend it - we love live music and cultural events. Besides, last year, the rainy weather stopped us from going to Arlington and spoilt the Festival as well.

It all started in 1986  - the first Scottish Festival took place at Maverick Stadium. Since then, annually during one spring weekend, people gather to celebrate the Scottish culture and have fun.

Although 'music tents' were our main interest, we also visited other stadium areas as there is always plenty to see during the festival weekend.

• For Highland Games fans - there were sports competitions

• Clan tents - where you could find out more about a Scottish surname. We were glad to meet Clan Mackintosh representative and see the Mackintosh tent among other 'names'
• Food, clothes and arts stalls.

We spent most of the time at music stages - that was why, we did not manage to see:

• Scottish dance competition;
• Fiddle workshop;
• Shortbread contest;
• Scottish needle-craft history presentation
• Whiskey Tasting and Beer Contest - well, we skipped the two simply because we were not interested in liquor things.

All in all, many attractions and not enough time/ not possible to attend everything during one day.

Our Festival favorites were:

#1

Murder the Stout - Mr Hugh Morrison lead vocals and squeezebox

The band plays Celtic rock - some songs very much remind me shanties, which I used to often hear when I lived in 'my' region of Poland.

#2

Cleghorn

Cleghorn are a Celtic rock band. We enjoy listening to their music but it would be nice if they presented some new songs also, not only the same stuff again. Really enjoyable anyway.

Seamus Stout

Unfortunately, we missed most of the performance by Seamus Stout. It was a pity as their version of traditional Celtic songs is really great.

Who else we saw/listened to:

Jiggernaut

Tullamore - traditional music

Scottish Thunder

Scottish Thunder seem to be quite an interesting band. Actually, we saw part of their performance by accident, waiting for another group. Wish we had seen more of their show.

To sum up, it was a very pleasant day. The weather was cooperative - in the morning it was rather cool, but later the temperatures were really nice regarding the Texas spring.
We had a great time at the Festival.

To find out more about the Texas Scottish Festival and the musicians visit their websites:

• Texas Scottish Festival & Highland Games
•  Murder the Stout
• Seamus Stout
• Cleghorn
• Tullamore

Our NTIF 2016

Last year, the ice storm made us skip the North Texas Irish Festival. Those cold weather conditions messed up the entire event too. That was why we were quite happy with this year forecast - nice and warm temperatures and no wind. Perfect for an outdoor festival!

We enjoyed it all - walking and looking around, watching the stalls and displays, music and dance performances and the Irish spirit in general. As usual, we visited all the pavilions, including the one with rescue dogs ready for adoption.

Furthermore, we were glad we came across one of our favorite musicians: Mr Morrison of Scotland. We like the songs he plays/sings. Since I lived most of my life by the Baltic Sea coast, I am quite fond of shanties and lively shanty like music. Here, in Texas such tunes remind me of the sea, tall ships, sailors, shanty men and all what used to be part of my 'landscape' for so many years.
Mr Morrison performed with the Jed Marum band - good music and a really enjoyable concert.
It was a great day indeed!



You will find my other post on NTIF here.

My Texas Alphabet: N for NTIF

The idea for this alphabet post series comes from ' The Alphabet of My Emigration' by Dee Dorota L., member of The Polish Ladies Abroad Club, who has relocated to England.
I have also decided to join the project and write about My Texas Alphabet twice a week.

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NTIF stands for North Texas Irish Festival. It is a holiday of Celtic music and Irish culture, which has been organized annually since 1983, during the first weekend of March. The Festival is the largest Irish festivity in the southwest of the USA and, also, the second biggest one in the States.

The Irish Festival has quite a special meaning in my Texas Alphabet: my husband and I found each other thanks to our mutual interest in the Irish music.

Every year NTIF is held at the grounds of the State Fair in Dallas. I am really happy we can enjoy it together - with our family also. We like going there - to listen to traditional and modern Irish music and watch various kinds of musicians and dancers on the Festival stages. There are always plenty of attractions for everyone: (considering music) from old style Celtic bands, storytellers, Irish tap dancers and bagpipers to contemporary rock groups. Besides, there are stalls with Irish (and not only) cuisine and all kinds of stuff and souvenirs - Celtic ones and much more. Among others, our favorite spot is the 'rescue dog' section, where you can admire dogs of different breeds (and, possibly, take home/get one of them).

We usually walk around the festival area and visit most of the stages which are situated in different parts of Fair Park. Since numerous performers dance and sing on them at the same time, it is not possible to see each and every artist. We try to make the most of it following the Festival schedule. Sometimes, it is difficult to choose what we would want to see as we are not able to be at two stages at the same time. However, one of our favorite Texas Celtic bands is Cleghorn.


The weather does not always cooperate and sometimes it happens to be cold at the time of the Festival. Last year, to our disappointment, it was too frosty to enjoy the outside entertainment. The weather conditions made us skip our annual North Texas Irish Celebrations. Hopefully, next year, we will be able to experience the Festival again. We certainly look forward to it.

More info:
North Texas Irish Festival website ,
Cleghorn website.

Other 'N' entries by Polish Ladies Abroad:

Jagoda / N jak Neaopol 
Gabi / N for No // N jak Nie
Dee Dorota / N jak Normalnosć