2024: Marathon FL Celtic Festival

 4 January 2024

Festival Set up

Setting up the park for the Celtic Festival for the coming Saturday and Sunday started early in the morning on Thursday with volunteers busily loading trucks at the church. Work continued into the afternoon at the park where even more volunteers joined in to unload the trucks, hang signage, and construct tents. 

This is the eleventh year the festival has been presented by the St. Columba Episcopal Church in Marathon, Florida. Proceeds go to support The Hammock House where local children are provided with a healthy environment where they can thrive emotionally, artistically, and spiritually. More information on this charity can be found on Facebook at #thehammockhouse.

In preparation of the event, signs were hung,

Clark and Polly

the stage was prepared,

and tents were constructed across the park.

Decorating at Gate #1

Saint Columba Church hosted a number of tents including the Tea Garden, the Knitting Tent, an Irish Pub, a children's tent including a petting zoo of stuffed animal rocking horses, and others. While church volunteers set up the church-provided tents, a crew from a tent rental company added other. The field was abuzz with activity. By 3:00 the work was mostly done, and volunteers were congratulated on completing setup in record time. 

6 January 2024

Opening Day

By Saturday morning the vendors had arrived, the food tents were supplied, and everything was ready for the big event made possible by the St. Columba Episcopalian church and their numerous volunteers. Today was a long day with the program offering many interesting events including field shows and musical stage performances. 

A map of the park showed the carefully laid out grounds for the festival.

By 10:00 Saturday morning the Festival was ready for patrons.

Vendor Tents

Vendors manned their booths with many wearing or displaying traditional garb reflecting their Celtic heritage.

Despite the heat, the costumes remained authentic. Many volunteers and participants wore kilts.

Soup and other fare could be found at the pub. Hot dogs, popcorn, and many other festival-type foods could be obtained at the various tents. For those wishing for a more unique experience,  tea could be taken with Mary, Queen of Scots at the Tea Tent.

Tea Garden Tent

A couple of scenes were in place for photo opportunities. One could present themselves in a flowered wreath, 

or place themselves on the grounds of a castle for their pose.

While wandering the vendor tents, posing for pictures, or consuming festival food, patrons could enjoy the lively music and dancing coming from center stage. For those wishing to sit and relax while watching the show, a covered seating area provided protection from the sun overhead. Some folks planned ahead and brought their own chairs to guarantee seating.

7 January 2024

Church service and Closing of the Festival

Sunday morning included an al fresco church service hosted by St. Columba Episcopal Church in Marathon, Florida. Many other churches from the Keys area partnered with St. Columba in presenting the service. 

Reverend Debra and visiting pastors

Reverend Debra

Congregation

As a bagpipe played and the congregation sang "We Three Kings", a visiting "king" from St. Francis Episcopal Church and his retinue, including a camel and an ass,  progressed into the area.

A small band including a keyboard, fiddle, banjo, and guitar, as well as a choir from St. Columba Church, accompanied the congregation while singing a variety of hymns including "Morning Has Broken" and others.

Sunday's festival events, similar in nature to Saturday's, commenced at 11:00 and concluded at 5:00. Unlike Saturday when the weather presented a beautiful, sunny day, a squall came through the area around noon bringing with it a cold front. Rain poured down for about 20 minutes. As wet and chilly patrons ducked into tents out of the storm, the Pub found many more people interested in the hot soup than had been prior to the storm.

The storm passed and the festivities continued throughout the afternoon. At the end of the day's events, the "demolition" crew  came in to take down signs, decorations, and tents and load everything into storage or onto trucks to be returned to the church to be unloaded Monday morning. 

As the crew worked, the sun set over the fairgrounds bringing the day to a beautiful close.