I enjoyed the new site of the Irish Festival
at the Irish Cultural Center. It was formerly held in a grassy
field at Stonehill College. The new location is better. Besides
neatly mown athletic fields it has lots of trees, shrubbery, and
pathways with scenic twists and turns. As usual, there were many
volunteers helping with the parking and everything seemed to be
running like clockwork. I was scheduled to play piano with the
Ceol Traidisiunta na H'Eireann ceili band for set dancing and
had quite a bit of equipment with me. Once inside the main entrance
I was offered a convenient parking spot and a golf cart ride to
the performance area for myself, my son, and my piano and amp.
The fiddlers were rippng through sets of
reels to entertain the dancers while myself and the rest of the
band was setting up on the dance stage for our 2 pm performance.
I was stationed on the corner of the stage next to box player
Billy O'Neil who led most of the sets. We had a complete fiddle
section along with Rich Attridge on flute and other musicians
as well. Frank Bane managed the band, played box, and made sure
that everything was running smoothly. We played energetically
throughout the afternoon while the dancers did the West Kerry
Set, Plain Clare set, and many other local favorites.
After our 3 hour performance the Boston
Comhaltas Ceili Band, led by Larry Reynolds, took the stage for
another great set of dancing. I left my piano on stage, and went
for a bite to eat and to explore the festival. Entertainment was
taking place on several stages simultaneously. I caught bits of
Alison Brown's banjo playing, fiddler Winfred Horan with Seamus
Egan, and visited the vendor area. As usual, there was a wide
selection of celtic recordings, clothing, food, and other items.
I ended up over at the amusement park area where I rode the wild
"Sizzler" and the "Cobra" rides with my son,
hanging on tightly to our hats.
As our second Cobra ride took us high into the air, I could hear the lively jigs and reels wafting from the dance tent in the distance. I was drawn back to the dancing and joined the Comhaltas band on stage for more music making with box players Fergis Keane and Tara Lynch , Larry Reynolds on fiddle, and others. As the sky was darkening around 9 pm, Larry called out for a last waltz and the another fine day of music and dancing was completed in style.