26th Annual Dublin Irish Festival – Dublin, Ohio

[creagdhubh]

Kyle,

Thanks for the weather update. I'm going to bring my day jacket (my only kilt jacket) just in case.

We are all set and the car is packed so we can leave right after we both get home from work this afternoon. We'll get to Western Pennsylvania tonight and head to Columbus in the morning (after visiting with mom for a bit).

I just learned that our daughter, who lives in Dublin, is only about three or four blocks from the grounds. Since we will be staying with her, we should be able to walk to it and not have to deal with parking.

My wife got tickets through the web site and since we are both over 60, we got a discount. We will probably head over about noon and pretty much spend the entire day, at least through the 78th Fraser Highlanders (though not sure how the grandkids will hold up). My wife made reservations to the 'Fairy Princess Tea' for our daughter, two granddaughters and herself for later in the afternoon.

Kyle, where and when might us X Marks rabble meet & greet and have a photo op? Also; What entertainment would you recommend as worthy to seek out?

Nile

Nile,

No worries, mate. I'm planning to bring my day jacket just in case as well, at least to wear in the cooler evening hours perhaps. That's awesome that your daughter lives only three or four blocks from Coffman Park, lucky! Hahaha! We actually have friends of friends that also live very close, since the festival grounds is literally surrounded by a lovely neighborhood, yet our friends unfortunately will not be attending this year. However, we do have a contact at the festival who will be reserving a parking sport for us at the Dublin Community Recreation Center, which is on the festiavl grounds, so luckily, we will not have to walk too far!

We also purchased our tickets online and received a military discount, since my wife, Stephanie and I are both former active-duty Marines...every wee bit helps! I'm pleased that you and yours were able to receive a discount as well. We have booked a room at a local hotel and will be staying Saturday night, then off to explore Columbus - there are some attractions that my wife and I would like to check out, so this is the perfect opportunity to do so. I called the hotel today to see if I could get an earlier check-in time, so we could get to the festival a wee bit earlier and they told me to call them on Saturday around noon to see if our room is ready, so we may actually arrive at the festival earlier than 3:30-4 p.m. - we shall see. We are driving in from Cincinnati, which is only about two hours southwest of the greater Columbus area, and I prefer not to wear Highland dress in the car for extended periods of time, which is why we must check in to our hotel first, so I can change.

I am not entirely sure of a proper place or a particular time that would be ideal for members of the rabble, who are attending the festival, to meet up for a chat and a photo op. It can be difficult to arrange such things, so I tend to either find them, or they find me! That actually isn't too difficult, since we'll all be wearing Highland dress and will stand out. Obviously, the majority of the attendees at the festival will not be in a kilt! Perhaps we can all organise a time and place within the next day or so via this thread?

I would recommend seeing any of the bands listed above, as well as the dancers and various pipe bands that will be performing. There also will be a Highland games "demonstration" that may be of interest, though the athletes present will not be competing, which is much more exciting in my opinion. Of course, the 78th Frasers are the absolute highlight for me...I've never seen them in person before, so that should be an exciting time and an excellent way to conclude the evening! Remember, all beverages sold at the festival require tokens that you can purchase there. All of the food vendors accept cash, and perhaps some may even accept credit/debit cards. you can also purchase tokens with either cash or a credit/debit card.

I wish you safe travels and hopefully we will all be able to meet up! Just keep an eye out for me...I'll have my cromach and will be wearing a Balmoral in a fawn (tan) colour. I should be relatively easy to spot out of the 100,000 spectactors expected to attend!

Best wishes,

[Nile]

Well, we got to our daughters house on Friday and after visiting for a while, we walked (turned out to be 6 blocks from her house) over to catch the opening of the Dublin Irish Festival. Beautiful weather and great entertainment. We will be heading over again today (Saturday) to enjoy the festivities and hopefully meet Kyle, David and any other X Marks we might spot.

We caught some of the "Red Hot Chili Pipers" concert last night. Dumb me thought it was supposed to be the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" (I need new glasses, really!) but, I have to tell you, in my opinion, RHC Pipers is better. What a performance!

Here's a couple of pictures from opening day. I'll post more later.


Here are a couple of shots of the Red Hot Chili Pipers. Not the greatest shots but, I was just shooting from the audience. They all wore bright red fur sporrans.



Nile

[Slider]

I made it to Dublin on Saturday, and then again today.

I was about to approach a dashing chap wearing a fawn Balmoral (I believe it was Kyle...), but my youngest's imminent catastrophic bladder depressurisation diverted my attention for a few moments and when I returned to the spot of the sighting, I couldn't find Kyle to introduce myself. Maybe next time...

My family had a wonderful time at the Festival. I was amazed by the sheer number of people attending on Saturday night - all of a sudden the beer lines went from 2-4 people deep to 40 people deep!

[Hawk]

Yes, we are all anxiously awaiting Kyles numerous photos covering his exploits and activities at the Dublin event........

Hawk

[Nile]

The Dublin Irish Festival was a blast and we had a great time. We attended Friday and Saturday so I have a few photos to share. I'm pretty certain I saw you, Slider but, same idea, was there with the wife, grand children and their parents and not knowing for sure. I did have the opportunity to meet up with Kyle and his charming wife, Stephanie. We had a nice, if all too brief visit but, we did cover a lot of territory in short period of time. Sorry I didn't get to meet David, but maybe next year (definitely going back). Anyway, here are a couple of photos (and yes, it was nuts on Saturday, gazillions of people).


Barleyjuice, what can I say! A truly outstanding, high energy, celtic rock group, their rendition of Baba O'Reily, (made famous by the Who) brought the house down and the lead was played on a Mandolin. If you ever get the chance, check these guys out.


The 78th Fraser Highland Pipe band from Toronto, Canada was truly the highlight of the day on Saturday. This is a world class band that has won the World Pipe Band championships in the past. They will be competing in the World championship again this year (next week) in Glasgow, Scotland.
Here's the percussion section practicing on the concourse before the concert.


Here's some shots of the concert.


Nile

[Nile]

I hope you all don't mind; here's a picture that my wife took of our granddaughters and me and one that I took of Keira and Kaitrain (our daughter married an Irish/American named McNally).


Nile

[Slider]

Hi Nile...

After seeing the photos I now realize that I walked past you a few times! I even remarked to my wife that you were a fine example of a well-dressed gent!

Andy

[Nile]

Andy,

Thank you for that compliment. I'm pretty certain that I saw you as well, especially now that I see your avatar. Next year we will have to plan a meet up time and location. We had such a wonderful time, we definitely want to go back.

Nile

[Hawk]

.....Nile, Andy, Kyle and others.....did you all forget your Dandelions for fellow XMTS identification?

Hawk

[Nile]

.....Nile, Andy, Kyle and others.....did you all forget your Dandelions for fellow XMTS identification?

Hawk

Good one Hawk, you are so right; thanks for that!

Kyle was easy to spot because we've seen the great pictures of him here on the forum but, Andy is new here and may not have been aware of the Dandelions that we 'Dandies of the Rampant Lion' wear to identify ourselves at gatherings (found here). Ironically, I ordered one of those and it was in the mailbox when I got home from Ohio.

It was really great to meet Kyle. Although we were together just a short time, we talked, non stop on a myriad of subjects, (as did our wives) like we were long lost friends.

Nile