Take All the Lads and Lasses to the Mid-Maryland Celtic Festival
We recently spent a very sunny and humid June afternoon at the Mid-Maryland Celtic Festival. The Celtic Festival takes place in the small town of Mount Airy, where Montgomery, Howard, and Frederick counties meet. As the name might suggest, the festival celebrates the culture and heritage of both Irish and Scottish people. It has a little bit of something for everybody. Whether you want to taste every beer in the Guinness catalog or pet several species of Scottish and Irish dogs, the Mid-Maryland Celtic Festival will likely have something for you. As both of those sounded like fun to us, we had a great time.
About the Mid-Maryland Celtic Festival
The main sponsor of the Celtic Festival is the St. Andrew’s Society of Central Maryland. For the unfamiliar, St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and St. Andrew’s Societies are charitable organizations created by people of Scottish descent around the world. Under this umbrella, every Scottish clan you can think of has its own booth at the Festival. I spent some time speaking with representatives of the MacKenzie clan, to whom one of my ancestors may have belonged. In addition to the clan booths, there were many booths serving food and selling items ranging from candles to kilts. We tried a “bridie”, a flaky Scottish version of a pasty. It was delicious!
A Range of Entertainment
The entertainment was also highly varied. There were indeed numerous areas where you could meet different Celtic species of dog. These include the small Scottish Terrier and the enormous Irish Wolfhound, among many others. Visitors could also watch the Scottish Games. The most famous event, the caber toss, involves men and women with very large biceps throwing what looks like a medium-size telephone pole. The stages featured many bagpipe-based music acts, along with Irish and Scottish dancers. There was even an area dedicated to “living history”, where a pack of pre-Culloden Scottish highlanders were encamped, along with representatives of many other eras. We saw a pair of World War II British Army soldiers, who were happy to show visitors their different pieces of vintage equipment.
I am Irish and Scottish, and we are suckers for this kind of thing. However, even those who are not Celts by blood are likely to have a great time at the Mid-Maryland Celtic Festival. The food and music are good, and the people are the friendliest you could ask for.
