Huron Irish Fest Fun
Imagine that, me going to a festival for the weekend, and selling my book.
Well this one was very different, for many reasons. It was held in Huron Ohio, almost 1/2 way between my home in Cleveland and Sandusky, which is where Cedar Point is. It is only Friday evening, and Saturday. Held in Huron Basin, where they created a natural ampitheatre style seating, on a bricked and grass hill, the one stage featured the bands Brigid’s Cross, Barleycorn, Guiness Stout, Morris & McCarthy and a pipe band and dancers.
My sister has a cottage on the lake, in nearby Vermillion, about 13 miles away, so I went there first, then over to the festival to set up my book booth. I got there around noon on Friday and there was NO ONE or thing of any kind in site. I mean NOTHING. I am thinking have I got the wrong weekend? I have been to this festival before, but not in a few years, and know the fella who used to run it, Pete O’Brien (no relation).
For Cleveland’s Irish Cultural Festival - We start set up the week before and here it is 5 hours before opening and I can’t see any sign of a festival. So I walk around the basin and see a tent with some tables overturned in it up on the hill above. Hmmmm. Eventually, I see Shay Clarke, the journalist, and owner of Blarney Fine Irish Jewelry, drive by. Ahhh, I must be right. Shay and his stores are in Chicago, but he and his wife Traci hit all the Irish festivals over the summer. I catch up to him and eventually we find someone who has a piece of paper telling us where to set up. The vendors have been moved from the basin to a road up above, that is why I didn’t see anything. Pete had a free festival, but when he relocated back to his home in Rochester, the city decided no alchohol near the boats and moved the vendors and such up above the seating area. They also added a $3 admission charge.
We are the first of the 8 “goods” vendors (plus 3 food vendors) there. Shay sets up his booth, I set up mine and we are ready - 3 hours before the fest starts. So we chat. A kettle popcorn vendor is 2 down from me and the smell is awesome. A wind that feels soft and warm keeps knocking over the easel holding up my display of the Festial Legends, so I get creative, get a few bungie cords and hang the thing from the tree behind me. It sways nicely but kind of feels weird. I have to throw the bungees up in the tree to attach them. Wonder if I’ll be able to get then down when this is over?
Shay writes for the Irish American News, about Irish events. He did a nice plug on my book when it first came out and he is a wealth of knowledge on who’s who in Irish circles. I picked his brain and loaded my palm pilot with new opporutnites and people to look at/talk to. I am also trying to find small dollar investors in my writing and publishing business, called O’B Press and contacts are precious.
Shay knows I am going to be in Milwaukee, speaking on and signing my book, for the Milwaukee Irish Fest next week - the largest Irish fest in the world, with over 140,000 people. Shay also co-hosts an Irish radio show in Chicago, which airs every Monday nite. He invites me to come on the show on the Monday after! This is HUGE for me, in getting word about the book out, to the massive Irish poulation that calls Chicago home. I am estatic.
Finally the fest opens. We are ready but Shay and I just keep on chatting. Shay has his breathtakingly beautiful young daughter Saoirse (sheer sah Irish for freedom) and son Naile (Nile) with him, as well as two of their friends. The kids are a blast and like Shay, have such a great sense of humor. We watch each others stand, when one goes takes a break. As I said, we are ready, and waiting, and waiting…. It is very quiet, attendance wise, and a shame, because the setting is just gorgeous, good weather, light breeze etc.
Cleveland is very blessed, because it has some GREAT Irish bands based here in my hometown. Brigid’s Cross and Barleycorn are both internationally know and successful bands, who call Cleveland home. There are MANY others based in Cleveland as well. i don’t want to start naming them, because I’ll forget somebody. Brigid’s Cross and Barleycorn are both playing at the Huron Fest so the music is good. I do eventually manage to sell a few books, but I am worried.
Over this summer, I have/will hit 10 Irish festivals promoting my book, from the smallest (apparently going to be Huron), to the biggest, Milwaukee. This is the only festival that charges me a fee for my booth space - most don’t charge artists who are promiting the Irish culture (as opposed strictly selling goods).
I have learned to love Subway and their coupons. I buy a few subs, some iced tea and load the cooler and I can last the weekend. But now I am worried that I won’t even cover my costs. Thank God I didn’t have to pay for a hotel on top of that, thanks to Tricia’s cottage nearby.
I guess about 200 or so people attend the fest Friday nite. Shay talks to his wife, who is at a fest in Minnesota with another son, Conor, and she says it is very quiet there too.
It is getting dark there but I am fairly close to a street lite. Doesn’t matter, within minutes, young Pat Foley of Irish Imports International, out of Columbus, Ohio, comes over with two of those lights that you can twist every which way and some extension cords. I put the lights around my booth and thinks look smashing!
The moon is right behind the stage and there is this little triangle gap between the trees. Suddenly, the moon settles right in the gap, and it is gorgeous. The folks playing on stage don’t know what everyone is looking at, as the moon is at their back, and folks are taking pics. I CANNOT figure out how to take a good pic at night, I blurr everything, but here is the best I could do (any advice would be GREATLY appreciated on the photo technique stuff)
The upper light is the moon, the green stuff is tree branches and the lower lite is a street light - God it was gorgeous. Sorry the photo sucks. Barleycorn has a new piano player, very talented and engaging Caroline Taylor. We have had some great chats and she offers great insight on me and on some of my poetry (I have another blog and all my short stories, essays, poetry and other writings on my author website - www.songsandstories.net). She has a sway when she is playing, from one foot tapping, up thru her hips, and across her shoulders, kind of a soft breezy shimmy. A few of us were standing at the top of the basin, swaying just like she was, but she didn’t see us - it was pretty funny. Alec spoke of having problems with his G string again and the music in such a great setting, was grand.
The fest closed up around 11. I drove back to the cottage, but couldn’t sleep. It was weird being there by myself. So watched some odd movie with Jimmy Stewart and Maureen O’Hara about a summer vacation place, trusting your true love, and looking at life a little closer, with a little more humor, for it is very rich if you take the time to engage in it. Finally fell asleep a little after 3. Up at 7, I took a nice long walk along the lake, such a view:
then I look up and see:
It is about 8 am or so, and the moon is clear in the sky. neat!
So then I drove into town and got a coffee, sipping it while I walked around Vermillion - love the small town feel. They have a Maritime Museum there, full of the history of Lake Erie, Port of Vermillion and all the Great Lakes:
I found a drug store, got some hearing aid batteries and then found Jimmy Buffett’s A Salty Piece of Land at my sister’s. I good read that I am thoroughly enjoying. Around 11 I head back over to the festival, hoping for a much more productive day - at least let me break even Lord. I don’t know if even a thousand people came thru the gate over the two days. There was a big race in Vermillion that morning but no advertising about the fest. The Noland’s stopped by, with two gorgeous friends:
I am 6′1″ and that dog is at my waist! Irish wolfhounds are the largest dogs in the world, powerful and bred for fighting alongside their horse riding masters centuries ago. They are incredibly gentle with friends tho, and great with kids. Because of their large size they don’t live a long time, maybe 7 to 10 years on average, their hearts give out. I wonder why evolution didn’t kick in here and fix that? Just lovely, lovely animals. Standing well over 7 feet on hind legs, Giants. I want to get a Wolfhound badly, and have a great sized yard for it.
Anyway, the fest went fair, I JUST broke even, so at least that wasn’t a wash. Met an artist, Joyce, who was really cool, always smiling and full of laughter, gonna look for her stuff out there too.
Now, prep for Milwaukee, with great hopes of selling a ton of me ould bewk.