Celtic Festival

05/03/2024

2024 CELTIC FAIRE

Grass Valley, CA

May 3rd - 5th  

The 2024 Celtic Festival was very successful.  Twenty-nine people signed up with 34 hounds, but due to rain some had to cancel. 

A group gathered on Friday and pop ups were set up.  We relaxed at the grounds for a bit, and then went to Ally and John's house to eat some good BBQ and let the hounds run and romp. 

On Saturday 16 of us were there in force, however the cold hard rains started in the morning,  and by noon the organizers said we could leave due to the rain. Many went to Ally's house and had pizza and watched movies such as "Best in Show".

Sunday was a beautiful day and additional people came with their hounds for a weekend total of 19 people and 16 hounds. We had hundreds of spectators come through to see and pet the hounds.  It was a good and enthusiastic crowd, but not overcrowded. At 4 p.m. we went over to the Grand Stand where over a hundred spectators came out to see the hounds.  We gave a talk about the Irish Wolfhound history, what it's like to live with a Wolfhound  and a brief description of each of our hounds.  We answered questions from the crowd, and after our talk, we did a short fun run presentation and the crowd loved it!  We had running hounds like experts Remi and Bailey, who raced like they were in competition, to a new puppy runner, 6-month old Iggy who did great for his first time and was a crowd pleaser!  

Afterwards many people stayed and asked questions and took pictures of the hounds.  A big thank you to Kevin Steele and Frank Mesa for setting up and running the lure course.  This was the first time we did this at the Celtic Festival, and it really showed the athletic side to those in attendance.  

Thanks to everyone who participated in this fabulous public education opportunity.  And thanks to Ally and John Hicks for their hospitality.

Jim Williams (916) 759-8535