I traveled to Waterloo, IA this past weekend for the 2nd annual Iowa Irish Fest. My partner in crime was pub volunteer extraordinaire, Larry C. After a little later than planned departure we made it to Des Moines for lunch at the Raccoon Brewing Company.
After a wee bit of food and handcrafted beer it was back on the road towards Waterloo. We arrived about an hour before the start of the fest so we stopped in to check out Jameson's Pub, the host of the festival and home of one of the festival stages. We were then honored to be joined for a pint by Patrick and Twigger of Gaelic Storm, the headlining act for Friday night. We also had the pleasure of meeting three new acts, Langer's Ball, Exorna, and Wylde Nept - hope to see them in Weston sometime soon. After a great night at the main stage it was back to Jameson's for a bit before calling it a night.
Saturday started with breakfast at Morg's Diner - as stereotypically delicious as you would imagine. Then back at the hotel lobby we had a chat with the Young Dubliners and Larry Kirwan of Black 47 before heading to the festival with Michael, one of the entertainment coordinators of the Minnesota Irish Fair whom we first met at O'Malley's when he came down with The Wild Colonial Bhoys. Enjoyed sets by The Cottars, Cherish the Ladies, Young Dubliners, Black 47, The Trinity Irish Dancers, and The Kildares. Also got to see our friends Marty and Brian from Switchback and met a great new act called Rising Gael. Then it was back to Jameson's for a few pints and more music provided by The Sandcarvers and Wylde Nept. A few pints later it was time to call it a night.
Slept in nearly up to check out time on Sunday. Got that taken care of, and then headed to Morg's for brunch with Michael. Caught the tail end of Young Dubliners set, then hung out with them for a bit before they headed out of town. We are looking forward to seeing them again in Weston on October 11th. We then enjoyed a great set by The Dublin City Ramblers to finish up the fest. Hope to make it back next year -
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1 comment:
Hey Sean, great to meet you, it was a good festival. Sorry you couldn't get away to come up to MN this last weekend, Flogging Molly, the Fuschia Band, The Elders, and so much more, we had some fun up here, you guys were missed!
Michael
tLB
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