Keswick Mountain Festival report
Keswick is a funny place: despite the fact that 90% of the population are permanently encased head to toe in Gore-Tex, the first thing they do when it rains is go to the pub. Or a tea room. For some reason, this didn’t seem to hold true this weekend, and despite the near cataclysmic weather the Keswick Mountain Festival carried on regardless.
Well, almost.
It would inaccurate to suggest that the weather didn’t have any effect on the weekend, and indeed when we arrived on site on Sunday morning the wind had done some serious damage to the site overnight. The ground was saturated, the gazeebos had been gazunked (yes, i made that word up) and the main marquee in particular was in pretty poor shape. With the weather having wreaked such havoc you would have been forgiven for thinking that the game was up for the weekend, but you’d have been wrong!
The runners still ran, the bikers still biked and the triathletes put in an incredible effort in exceptional weather.
All in all, it made for a slightly surreal day: triathletes making their transitions while workers dropped the marquee and delegates recovered their stalls. All the events that could be relocated or rescheduled were, and there was even a lecture going on the corner of one marquee while we hastily filled it with the contents of another that had been damaged…. I didn’t meet one person that appeared in the least bit phased by the whole thing.
All in all I think that sums up a lot of what mountain sports are all about. Nature is always going to be the boss, but when she decides to give you a bit of a scolding you pick yourself back up and get on with it.
See you all there next year!
Celtic Connections 2011 – a Retrospective
Last night saw the last of the Celtic Connections events for another year. The circus has left town; sleep may chance a return from it’s banishment. read more…
Celtic Connections – opening night!
It turns out that the Christmas and New Year party season is really just a warm-up for the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow…. Starting tonight and continuing relentlessly till the end of the month over 1500 musicians from around the world will take to the stage at 14 venues around Glasgow. There will be music and dancin’, and probably a few headaches along the way. read more…
Celtic Connections 2011 Launch
Today saw the press launch for the 2011 Celtic Connections Festival at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. The festival is now in it’s 18th year and from the sounds of the line up that Donald Shaw, the Artistic Director, announced this morning it sounds like it’s going to be one of the best yet. The festival is running between thursday 13th Jan and sunday 30th Jan 2011… don’t expect to see me much between those dates unless you’re along for some events too! I will be covering the festival this year, so do expect regular updates on the blog. read more…
