The 14^th Annual Scottish Festival & Celtic Gathering is coming to Bridgeport City Park May 1-3 and organizers are stoked to once again share the Scots-Irish culture with not only the local community, but those from throughout the Eastern U.S. who travel each year to the event.

 

Festival Chair Kevin Anderson, also member of event host North Central West Virginia Scottish Heritage Society, said the festival draws Scottish clan members and other enthusiasts from more than a dozen states. It’s an event, he said, that grew from an isolated activity a decade and a half ago.

 

 “Fourteen or 15 years ago, we held a Kirkin’ of the Tartans service at First Presbyterian Church and out of that grew the festival,” Anderson said. “The NCWV Scottish Heritage Society decided that we needed as a group to do our part and try to educate people in West Virginia about their Celtic and Scottish roots. So we decided then to put on the festival and bring in bagpipe players and clans for genealogy and it has grown every year.”

 

If one has never before been to the festival, Anderson recommends some browsing of the festival grounds.

 

“For the first time, they need to come see the ‘pageantry’ – the opening ceremonies and bagpipe bands playing at the same time, the parade of clans, Scottish breed dogs and children’s games,” he said. “Take a look and take a listen. We try to have something for everybody – young to old.”

 

As he has every year since the festival’s beginning, Curt Mitchell will serve as drum major for the combined mass pipe bands.

 

“I’ve don’t it every year since the beginning of the festival,” he said. “I’m one of the original founding folks of the Pipes and Drums of St. Andrew.”

 

Based out of Parkersburg, that host band will be joined by the Celtic Eagle Pipe Band of the Akron, Ohio area; the Seton Hill University Pipe Band, the Carnegie Mellon Pipe Band, the McDonald Pipe Band of Greensburg, Pa., the Veterans Memorial Pipe Band from north of Pittsburgh, the Garrett Highlands Pipe and Drums Band of McHenry, Md. and the West Virginia Highlanders Pipe Band of Elkins.

 

“It truly is a mass band performance – all eight bands will be coming onto the field and playing music together,” Mitchell said. “There are a variety of different tunes we play and, of course, the bands don’t have opportunity to practice together so these are all kind of traditional songs – songs familiar to all pipers and drummers and we’re able to put that together in a performance.”

 

As he does on a regular basis with the Pipes and Drums of St. Andrew, Mitchell will provide the commands.

 

“It’s awesome to have hundreds of musicians there at your command,” he said. “Some things can always go wrong, but we can put on a good show and folks enjoy it.”

 

The City Park grounds will also feature heavy athletic games, Celtic musicians, Highland Dancers and demonstrations such as herding, spinning and weaving, as well as many other attractions.  The clans, Anderson said, date back about a thousand years and the community units included anywhere from a few hundred to a couple thousand individuals. Each clan had a chief, official tartan pattern and coat of arms.

 

Today, many of the Scots-Irish heritage have traced their ancestry and are taking pride in their roots and lineage, Anderson said. For those interested in starting such a process, there will be a genealogist on site, as well as a Scottish history exhibit.

 

New this year is a longbow demonstrator from North Carolina, Anderson said.

 

“He’ll actually talk three or four times about the history of the longbow, used in the 1300-1700s range, explaining the difference between it and bows used today and its accuracy,” he said.

 

There is an admission cost, but once inside, attendees have full reign of a plethora of exhibits, attractions and entertainment, with this year’s entertainers including Jil Chambless & Scooter Muse, Burning Bridget Cleary, Rathkeltair, IONA and The West Virginia Highland Dancers. There will also be massed bands, sanctioned solo bagpipe and highland dancing competitions, a parade of the clans, Scottish breed dog exhibit, longbow demonstration, merchandise and craft vendors and Shetland sheep and Heilan’ coos.

 

New to this year’s entertainment lineup are Jil Chambless & Scooter Muse and Burning Bridget Cleary.

 

“Scooter Muse has worked for a long time out of Nashville and about 15 years ago, changed over to Scottish music and hooked up with Jil Chambless, who is an accomplished vocalist. She is also doing our Kirkin’ of the Tartans service Sunday morning,” Anderson said. “Burning Bridget Cleary is halfway between Scottish folk and Celtic rock.”

 

Returning this year is Rathkeltair, a Florida-based full-fledged Celtic rock band all inclusive of bagpipes, guitar and percussion - and IONA, offering yet another type of Scotch-Irish music, Anderson said.

 

“We have a wide range of music between the four groups,” he said.

 

Athletes from more than a dozen eastern states affiliated with the Mid-Atlantic Scottish Athletics will be traveling for the occasion.

 

The most popular event – and likely the most fun to watch - is the caber toss, actually pronounced “cobber” toss, Anderson said. That’s because the event features the throwing of a large wooden, cobb-like pole called a caber. The game is thought to have developed from the need to toss logs across narrow chasms in order to cross them.

 

In addition to children’s games and activities, young festival attendees will receive an education on the Scotch-Irish heritage. “Passports will be given to children upon their arrival and as they travel tent to tent, each clan will place a stamp on their passport, Anderson said. Filled passports can be redeemed for prizes.

 

Following Saturday’s festival, a concert featuring this year’s entertainers will be held at the Bridgeport High School auditorium.  The show begins at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets may be purchased in advance or at the door.

 

The festival will kick off Friday night Celidh at Via Veneto. The Scottish-style party will be plentiful with food, fun and entertainment.

 

The weekend will wind up with a Sunday morning service at First Presbyterian Church in Clarksburg and a procession through the streets of Clarksburg.

 

See ticket information, including how to purchase advance tickets, below.

 

For additional information, call (304) 677-6425, email daa223@juno.com or visit www.scots-westvirginia.org.

 

Editor's Note: Above photos taken by Tyler Maxwell of Ben Queen Photography during the 2014 Scottish Heritage Festival and Celtic Gathering.