Scottish Heritage Festival & Celtic Gathering Canceled Saturday; Sunday's Event in Clarksburg Still On
By Julie Perine on May 05, 2016 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
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Officials of the Scottish Heritage Festival & Celtic Gathering and City of Bridgeport Parks and Recreation have been in meetings today making decisions about the annual festival scheduled for this Saturday at City Park.
The bottom line is – because of heavy rains over recent days and condition of the fields at City Park - that festival will not take place. Except for Sunday’s Kirkin’ of the Tartans event in downtown Clarksburg, all activities have been canceled, said Festival Chair Kevin Anderson.
Anderson said he was advised by Bridgeport Parks and Recreation that he is not permitted to utilize any of the fields or other grassy areas at City Park.
"There’s no other place for me to put this on," he said. "There’s not enough room on the blacktop and we can’t put up tents because we can’t drive stakes.”
In addition to tents for clans and vendors, the blacktop area cannot be used for heavy athletic games, sheep herding and a number of other festival activities, said Kim Sabo, president of the Scottish Heritage Society of North Central West Virginia.
Parks and Recreation Director Don Burton said the ground is just so saturated and that the forecast calls for even more rain. The heavy athletic games and the driving of vehicles on the grounds would do major damage to the fields where local children play sports through the spring, summer and fall months.
"That would just really tear the fields up and we wouldn’t be able to fix them," Burton said.
“(The festival officials) looked at the parking lot and considered just having some of their activities on the blacktop, but I guess they couldn’t work that out,” he said. “They decided to cancel.”
Even Friday night’s Celidh at Via Veneto has been canceled as has the “Best of Scotland” concert scheduled for Saturday night at Bridgeport High School.
Anderson, Sabo and other festival officials are very busy making phone calls and sending emails advising individuals, organizations and entertainers associated with the festival that it will not be happening.
“We have people coming from Texas, New York and several other states,” Sabo said.
There’s no doubt that the festival will take a financial hit because of the last-minute cancelation, but sometimes Mother Nature can stir things up and the unexpected occurs, she said.
Read about what was planned for the 15th annual festival HERE.
