So who all is going to be there this weekend???
The music is going to be great and the tickets are CHEAP ($5 a day).
There should be a good C & F contingent to represent the board and we ought to find a way to connect. I’ll be there Saturday and Sunday with my wife and I’ll be attending the Whisle/Flute workshop on Sunday.
And Cherish the Ladies is playing at 3 and again at 9 on Sunday
So who else is going to make it???
If the temp’s drop, I’ll be there, but I just don’t do 105 outdoors…
I’ll probably have my wife and 4 year old with me (he loves Irish music - he’ll dance to it at the drop of a hat), and I’m going to try and make the whistle/flute workshop. Is there a fee for that?
The ticket prices are unbelievable, and the line-up is first rate. I’m really looking forward to it.
Eric
I haven’t seen anything on cost for the workshop. Is there a chance that they are free??
The weather looks fabulous (if you can believe weather.com)
Sat 78
Sun 80
And those are the highs.
I get to go on Sunday. I hope this “cold front” shows up because it has been really hot.Last Thursday it was 111 here and my 2yo cant take that kind of heat…I checked CNN and they say its supposed to be in the upper 80s so it should be a great weekend. I dont know if I will go to the workshop or not depends on the family and what they want to do…I might try to go if its not too crowded and its free. I hope its not too crowded, last year the Ren. Faire was impossibly crowded and we ended up leaving.
Hi All,
I’m planning on coming down Saturday and may very well return on Sunday.
Any idea of where we might meet? A time? Is there going to be one entrance or one main entrance? Maybe we could meet there at a certain time and then move to a more secluded area.
I’ll be wearing Chiff & Fipple cap and either a black t-shirt that says Peace on one side and Justice on the other or a green t-shirt with the Tree of Life motif. probably have my black and yellow day pack with me (with whistles and flutes in it of course).
Looking forward to meeting others. See you there
jim
I have 4 free tickets for the Irish Fest that can be used for any of the days. Let me know if you want them and I’ll figure out a way to get them to you.
I can’t wait for the weekend!!! 
See you there
Hey a free ticket sounds fine, if it works out. I’m planning on being there when it opens on Saturday. They’re having 150 anniversary (I would have said sesquentiniel but I don’t know how to spell it) of the town I live in and I need to be gone before it gets too crowded. If I’m going to be in a crowd, I want to be in an Irish oriented crowd. So I’ll at the gates befoe it opens. If we can connect that would be nice otherwise I’ll see you inside.
jim
I won’t be making it this time, but maybe next time I will.
If you see Cherish the Ladies, tell Mary C. (and Joanie) that Jim and Donna said “Hi”! If you run into NancyF, please tell her the same! 
Does anyone know if the Irish Fest has been rained out? Who went today? I know it has rained bucketfuls all day here and its supposed to rain tomorrow too…
I just checked their website, and it didn’t say anything about it being a rain-out. It is raining buckets here, too. We went about 28 days with no rain, and boom - nearly 4 inches in two days and it’s still coming down and forcasted to keep coming down for the next two days. I’m still hoping we get a few hours of dry tomorrow evening when I plan to head down.
The Irishfest is not the only festival in KC suffering - the Renaissance Festival went on (my parents went & said the crowd was very, very small) and we also have Santa-Cali-Gon Days (allegedly celebrating the big three trails for westward expansion that left from KC - but in reality a big old street party). I took my son to Science City today, and they had the largest crowd I’ve ever seen - I’m thinking all the festival goers who had to come in town tried to find indoor things to do.
If I do hear on the news about the Irish Fest being cancelled, I’ll post right away.
Eric
The festival was open by noon…in the rain. Two stages were outside and closed due to not being able to do the sound system in the rain. As many as possible gathered under the one big tent and performers performed although the schedule was changed. It continued to rain and they closed about 5PM.
But they said Hotel Phillips invited everyone there since that’s where many performers and out of towners were staying. And the show went on and on and on.
There was a session constantly which was absolutely fine and performers were in the Crystal Ballroom which, in spite of its name, was a pretty small and intimate venue to listen to music.
I spite of the weather it was a very good day. I met John Bunch who lives in the KC area and checks in here at the forum. He told me about a slow session on alternating Thursdays and I made a connection with someone in Omaha. A profitable trip. Got home at 1 AM.
The organizers said to watch their internet site for announcements of how they are going to handle today.
Y’all have fun…I did!
jim
That sounds like you had a great time despite the weather! I attend that slow session on the first and third Thursday of each month. Attendance varies between me and the session leader to up to 5-6 others. We just added a piper last session, so we’re starting to grow!
As for the festival today - they were supposed to make a decision by 8 a.m. this morning, but it’s not on their website or on the phone info. line as of 9:15. Looking out my window, listening to the flash flood warnings coming across our TV - I’d have to say there is no way it’s going to happen. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s never going to stop raining…
So, anyone selling a house, please PM me ASAP !
Eric
It’s now officially cancelled. The KC Star said they might try tomorrow, but we’ll have to wait and see what their webpage says later (right now it just says cancelled with announcement later).
I should have gone Friday night…
Eric
Yup - the whole thing was just like an Irish festival, except that the rain caused it to be cancelled! We actually never made it into the festival grounds, which by all accounts was a good thing. I’m Irish, but I don’t really like mud, all the same. We got there at about 4 yesterday, at which point they’d announced that they were going to close at 5, so we just found out where the performers were staying and headed there. For anyone who hasn’t heard Téada before, or in a while, they’re on tour in the US for the next 6 weeks or so, and you REALLY should make time to see them. See http://www.ceolproductions.com/gigs.html for a full list; they’re on the West coast for the next while, but they’ll be in the East in February and March. Don’t miss them.
So, based on Saturday’s weather, we decided to head over to the grounds today at about 1.30, where we found no queues (that’s ‘lines’ here, I suppose :roll: ), no road closures, and a rapidly diminishing number of tents and marquees. So we assumed it wasn’t on and headed back to the hotel, where we were informed that about 2/3 of the performers had checked out. So we left. It was an interesting exercise. I think. It was damp. But it did convince me that I can survive Ireland when I return there in 2 weeks, having dealt with 90+ temperatures for the last 2 months!