McPherson Scottish Festival

 

 The McPherson Scottish Festival

Lakeside Park Park

McPherson, KS

© Lydia Lowe 2013

      I had a chance to attend the Scottish Festival this weekend and it was lots of fun.  This is the 20th year for this gathering and if you haven't been, you need to check it out.  There is so much to see and do, unique foods to try, amazing gifts to buy, demonstrations to watch, and music at every turn.

Falcons

and Scottie dogs

     The Blackhearts Fencing Club from Derby Kansas gave demonstrations throughout the day  These demos were always entertaining and full of fun.  These folks just love to talk weapons and entertain the crowd with killing and dying.  I don't think I've ever seen a group so dedicated to the craft of battle.  Men and women were dying left and right, swords were flying, judges were looking the other way at crucial intervals, and the ones who survived got crowd chants going to urge their fellow fencers to hurry up and die already.  During one of the demonstrations, one combatant caused an actual slight injury to another combatant and there was much ado about his well-being.  Apparently while they enjoy the killing and dying, they don't want to cause actual injury.

     At one of the highland game areas, I saw a fella who was helping participants get ready to compete and he had a shirt on proclaiming that he was not in fact the "Dancing Chad" but he did know him.  I was never able to solve this mystery of the Dancing Chad nor was I able to locate him.  Perhaps next year.

 

     

     And it wouldn't be a Scottish Festival without highland dancers and bagpipe bands.  

      I got a chance to sit in on the bagpipe competition.  Both competing bands were excellent.  This competition was a nationally judged competition.  As I watched both seemingly flawless performances, I began to wonder how does a person judge a competition like this.  So I interviewed one of the judges at the end of the competition to find out.

 
     Bagpipe bands weren't the only music to be had at the festival.  There was music everywhere.  Cady Finlayson and Vita Tanga were just one of the groups performing at this years event. 

     There is simply to much to cover in one review.  Check back later this week for links to interviews on YouTube, photo's on Flikr and so much more.