USAK in the Philadelphia Inquirer

[Monkey@Arms]

Nice, Rocky!

Where it's OK to play in the street

In addition to its Dogwood Parade, Phoenixville plans May fairs to celebrate French and Celtic cultures.
By Helen I. Hwang
For The Inquirer

May is festival month in Phoenixville, with two new street fairs and one old-time parade. Fans of Paris, Celtic culture and dogwood trees will all have reasons to flock to town.
On Saturday, a Springtime in Paris fair will transform Bridge Street into Rue de la Bridge with strolling musicians, street artists, a fashion show, and wine, beer and cheese tastings.

Restaurants will expand their seating into sidewalk cafes, offering French specials. A deejay on an outdoor stage will spin French music from the 1920s to 1940s, such as chansons from Edith Piaf.

Strolling musicians will entertain. Artists will sketch on sidewalks, and performers will fill the streets with "Parisian-themed shows," said organizer Paul Oliver, owner of Wolfgang Books.

Kimberlie Cruse, who works at the Steel City Coffeehouse, is organizing the artists to perform in what she has nicknamed "France in P-ville." She also will perform as part of a group called Bag Lady Theatre, which will aim to amuse visitors with comedic storytelling.

And Medicine Men, a comedy act with Chris Quinn and Owen Timoney, will juggle and perform with fire.

What does Phoenixville have in common with Paris? Well, there is the rumor that steel from Phoenixville's foundry went into making the base supports for the Eiffel Tower.

Though the festival is endorsed by the Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area, Oliver acknowledged that about half the members agree with the Eiffel claim and half don't.

"That's what makes the festival extra charming," Oliver said with a sly smile.

The festival is the brainchild of Oliver, 27, and Richard Holck Sr., 61, owner of Artisans Gallery & Cafe. The stores are directly across Bridge Street from each other, and both opened on May 5 last year. In fact, the Springtime in Paris festival will take place on the stores' anniversary, although the proprietors said that was just a coincidence.

Backers hope the fair can be lead to festivals with themes revolving around Phoenixville steel's contribution to the world.

Holck said they were planning a Jersey Shore Day and a New York/New York Night since they believe local steel went into Atlantic City's piers and the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges.

To pay tribute to its ancestry on the other side of the English Channel, Phoenixville has scheduled its first Celtic Street Fair for May 12. Kelly Stewart and Rocky Roeger, owners of USA Kilts on Bridge Street, are sponsors.

Roeger is the resident who's always wearing a kilt. "I'm my own best advertisement," he said. Visitors can buy the same type of kilt that Madonna wore on tour, because the Phoenixville store hand-stitched 42 kilts for her and her dance troupe a few years ago.

Scottish bands will play on two stages. Albannach incorporates large, tribal drums and bagpipes into its music. Popular Toronto band Enter the Haggis will play at the Colonial Theatre in the evening. Children can learn Irish step dancing at the Colonial in the afternoon.

Vendors will sell Celtic food, including meat pies and Welsh cookies, which Stewart described as "pancakes with fruit inside."

The third Saturday in May is the date for the 56th annual Dogwood Parade, which celebrates the dogwoods blossoming in Reeves Park.

Dogwood Queen Maria Konstantinidis, a junior at Phoenixville High School, will parade through the streets of Phoenixville.

Why is Phoenixville getting so festive? Well, people love parades and festivals, and Oliver said Phoenixville hoped to tie them all to the town's history.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If You Go
Springtime in Paris fair: 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday on Phoenixville's Bridge Street between Starr and Gay Streets. In addition to continuous street entertainment, free events include a French-style beer tasting at 1 at Iron Hill Brewery, 130 E. Bridge St., 610-983-9333; a cheese and wine tasting at 2 at Ramondo's Cheese!, 164 Bridge St., 610-933-5716; Parisian jazz of the 1930s performed by the Gadjo Playboys from 3 to 5; a fashion show at 3; and a dessert and wine tasting at 4 at Artisans Gallery & Cafe, 236 Bridge St., 610-935-1965.

Celtic Street Fair: 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. May 12 on Bridge Street between Main and Gay Streets. Free. For more information, call 610-935-3444. Also, Enter the Haggis will perform at 7:30 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., 610-917-1228, www.thecolonialtheatre.com; the cost is $22.

Dogwood Parade: starts at 1 p.m. May 19 at Franklin and High and winds its way through Phoenixville, www.phoenixvillejaycees.org.


Find this article at:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local...he_street.html

Best regards,

Jake

[RockyR]

ditsy reporter only reported on 1/100th the stuff we told her and even screwed some of THAT up. We didn't hand stitch Madonna's kilts...

Oh well. Either way, it's great press for the festival!

[MACKAY]

Rocky - Remember, ANY press is great press! At least they got your names right

Looking forward to the festivities, already have our wrist band 'tickets' for the evenings concert.

[RockyR]

I know... I just wish that reporters would actually LISTEN to what we're saying instead of taking a few notes scribbled on paper and then making up quotes when they get back to the office.

I'm sending out a Press Release to the "Community Paper" (that one you get in your mail box once a week that you don't pay for). Hopefully they'll cover it as well. Also, the Phoenix should be running a story in a week.

[Colin]

Geez Rocky, With all the media coverage you guys get, you're turning into the Paris Hilton of the kilt world only with well earned coverage and a better fashion sense of course

Good article, and good exposure. Have you havd any new interest from the article?

[RockyR]

"Kilts?!?! That's Hot".

HAHAHAHAHA

We've gotten a few people call us and purchase tix who have reffered to the article. Hopefully we get lots more!

[MACKAY]

Big half page write up in the local Community Courier weekly newspaper. Very well done and lots of good info on the festival and you and Kelly's participation in organizing and sponsoring the fest.

[RockyR]

Hey Brian... do you have a link to it? I sent them a Press Release and was HOPING they'd put it in.

[Monkey@Arms]

Celtic Festival celebrates Scottish and Irish culture
By COLLEEN McCULLOUGH , colleen@phoenixvillenews.com
05/10/2007

PHOENIXVILLE - A street celebration showcasing traditions and aspects of the Scottish and Irish culture will take place on Bridge Street Saturday, May 12.

Bagpipers, Irish and Scottish dancers, vendors and entertainers featuring local and international performers will highlight the music, culture and history of the Celtic lands throughout the day.

The event was organized by Rocky Roeger and Kelly Stewart, the owners of Phoenixville's USA Kilts & Celtic Traditions, and Bill and Karen Reid of East of the Hebrides. The Reids are promoters of Celtic events, such as the Mid-Winter Scottish and Irish Festival at the Valley Forge Convention Center.

"We have an interest in the renaissance of Phoenixville and letting people and businesses outside the Phoenixville community know about our town," Roeger said. "East of the Hebrides is known for staging festivals like this across the country and has the ability to help us create a different sort of community event for Phoenixville, so we partnered up to host the street festival in the downtown shopping district." The combined efforts have resulted in many options for those coming to what Roeger calls a "family-friendly event."

Performers on the Main Street Stage include Canadian-Scottish performers Ashley MacLeod and Neil Emberg and Oliver McElhone, originally from Northern Ireland, and who now lives in Upper Darby.

At the other end of the block, at the Gay Street Stage, the Bogside Rogues will be playing. Also, directly from Scotland will be the tribal musicians, Albannach.

"We wanted to put something on that will bring people from outside the area to see what's going on in Phoenixville," Stewart said. To see these events, people are expected to come from Connecticut, the Carolinas, New York and more - many of whom were reached through mass emails and the company's Web site.

Those people, and the locals that are also expected to turn out, will have more than the authentic and high energy music available to occupy them throughout the day.
Irish Step Dancers will be doing street performances, and at 1:00 p.m. Scottish dancing will be taught to the kids in the Colonial Theatre by Casey Ann and Caline Drummond of the Campbell School of Highland Dance.

Bagpipes will sound throughout the area as the Brian Boru Pipe Band parades throughout the day. Over a dozen gift shops will be selling their Celtic wares. Vendors will be selling authentic Scottish fish and chips and other Celtic foods.

Face painting, body art, sand designs and re-enactors and fraternal organizations will round out the day, but as the night starts to fall there will be another event - a concert at the Colonial Theatre by Enter the Haggis, a Canadian band that blends bagpipes, guitars and drums. Opening will be Ashley MacLeod and rounding out the night will be Albannach. The concert, starting at 7:30 p.m., costs $22 per person with general seating. A portion of each ticket sold will go toward the revitalization of the downtown district of Phoenixville.

"We're excited about this event which we wanted to do for everyone: ourselves and other businesses in the area, the local community members and those from outside the area," Roeger said.

And while seeing the bands perform is what his partner, Stewart, said she is most looking forward to, Roeger has the final part of the night in mind. After the concert, there will be a kilt night and meet and greet with the bands at Columbia Bar and Grill.

Major sponsorship for the free Celtic Street Fair is from Susquehanna Patriot Bank, New Century Band, Phoenixville Federal Bank & Trust and Phoenixville Educational Campus (PEC).

It will be taking place from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Bridge Street between Main and Gay streets in downtown Phoenixville.

For more information on the event, or to purchase tickets to the concert, contact East of the Hebrides - 610-825-7268 or www.eohebrides.com - or USA Kilts at 249 Bridge St., Phoenixville, PA 19460. The number for USA Kilts is 610-935-3444 or visit their Web site at www.usakilts.com. Tickets for the concert will also be available at the door.

©The Phoenix 2007

http://www.phoenixvillenews.com/site...id=17910&rfi=6

Best regards,

Jake

[RockyR]

add that to the article in the Community Courier and some paper in Reading PA and we have gotten pretty good coverage for a first time festival with a shoestring budget and no marketing budget.