FRIDAY NIGHT
September 30

(Tournament and Ceilidh are a separate ticket
not included in the Saturday & Sunday Festival ticket price.)

Royal Tournament &
Gathering of the Clans

This year the three-day KVMR Celtic Festival will kick off the weekend with their first Royal Tournament & Gathering of the Clans.  Chivalry and honor will reign on Friday, September 30 with a medieval tournament featuring full contact jousting, dancing horses, sword fights and hand to hand combat presented by the Imperial Knights.  Honors to the winners will be presented by the King, Queen and their royal attendants.

The festivities will take place in the Nevada County Fairgrounds arena and will include pageantry and a parade with medieval tribes and guilds in attendance vying for favors.

Imperial Knights travel internationally and feature the expert horsemanship of Thomas and Andrea Montgomery.  Exhibitions include hand to hand combat and the thrill and excitement of full contact jousting.  The company uses authentic medieval weapons and armor along with colorful heraldry and costumes.

Heavy armor jousting was prominent in the 15th and 16th century. The purpose of the competition is for each competitor to try to dislodge the opponent from his/her horse. Armed with 13-foot-long lances, they gallop down the lists toward each other and score points by unseating their opponent or striking the shield.

The Imperial Knights will present jousting exhibitions on Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 pm in the Fairgrounds Arena.

www.imperialknightslive.com 

---

Friday Night Ceilidh

Also included in the Friday night festivities will be our Friday Night Ceilidh (kay-lee) with live music by McKasson, Alexander, and Cotter, aka MAC, for dancing in Ponderosa Hall.

MAC is, at its core, part of the natural progression of Celtic music as it has worked away into the American consciousness. McKasson, Alexander, and Cotter are all three well-versed in the Celtic music tradition, and the music that they write and perform is steeped heavily in this timeless tradition while calling upon influences ranging from rock to classical. Their performances reveal fiery personas tempered with artistry, finesse, and virtuosity as they draw from a deep well of innovative original music and lush arrangements of traditional songs and tunes.

Known across the country as one of the premier dance fiddlers around, Ryan McKasson (The McKassons, The Synchopaths) is joined by piper Elias Alexander (Bywater Band, Soulsha, Carlos Nuñez) and guitarist/singer-songwriter Colin Cotter (A Thousand Years at Sea, Adrianna Ciccone) to form an acoustic power trio that brings the party to the stage and the dance floor. Following their performance at the massive Northwest Folklife contra dance, one fan wrote: “Saw/heard you at Folklife and was amazed. Thank you for the absolute best, quintessential, ecstatic contra dance of my life!! (and I’ve been doing contra for about 30 years) I had tears of joy on my face by the end.”

Food and libations will be available for purchase.

www.tunesbymac.com
www.colincotter.com
www.ryanmckasson.com
www.eliasalexander.com