Author’s Note: Locations may change from year to year.
This post documents my experience on May 19, 2012.
Although I have been to a few Irish and Celtic festivals in the past, I have never been to any where Scottish games were present (except for a Blueberry Festival, actually), so it excited me to get a chance for something new.
Having just left Wadsworth, it took me only a half hour to make my to Hartville’s Maize Valley Market and Winery, pay my $6 and join others at the Celtic Beltane Festival.
The festival was small one with the majority of people…
…out in this booth area.
Here, various gifts were available to festival goers, including…
… various Celtic jewelry selections…
… awesome accessories in chain maille…
…some weapons to go with the chain maille…
…beautiful Welsh lovespoons…
…Celtic gifts galore…
…and, of course, InFamous Welsh Cookies.
Other booths here reconnected with the past…
…via the Canton Akron Scottish Heritage Association…
…and the various clans who shared their genealogy and heritage.
Elsewhere on the festival grounds…
…there was musical entertainment…
…a few things for the kids….
…some highland cattle…
…and the games.
Throughout the day….
…spectators casually watched athletes from this pavilion…
…as participants tossed cabers…
…sheafs…
…and other things.
The kids even got to try their hand.
My only complaint of the festival involved the food.
When I wanted a quick bite of something, there were only two places to purchase food from…
…inside the market…
…or at this barn.
At the market, I didn’t necessarily want to pay nearly $8 for a sandwich (with side) for a non-Celtic sandwich, especially after paying the $6 admission. This was especially true since it was officially outside of festival grounds (one of the admission gates was out the back door of the market) and they were offering no festival discount.
Still, I was starving and decided to just do it.
But, as I walked into the market, the band in the video above was just about to start, so I had to be quick…
…and no one at the counter.
So when I later decided to try the barn, I was happy to see that there was a hot dog option for $3…
…but one of the soldiers happened to grab the last one in that batch.
Hungry and defeated, I eventually ate some Welsh cookies and called it a day.