Good morning! We had a great weekend at the Niagara Celtic Festival. It was different from the norm, more living history encampment then re-enactment but very enjoyable non-the-less. The host group, Clan Cameron, did their usual fantastic job and the event organizer, Dr. Cameron (Brian Park) did an awesome job of negotiating all the little logistical things that went into our participating in an event of this nature. Three cheers for the Good Doctor...hip, hip huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

Saturday there were 6000 people in attendance which meant we had the chance to interact with a lot of people. There was a lot going on and lots to see which made for a lively day. Sunday there were fewer people but still a great crowd. A real treat was the performance by the band Seven Nations. Overall, the weather was great, a perfect fall weekend. Sunday morning was paricularly gorgeous. The location was amazing as we were camped overlooking Lake Ontario which was incredible.

As far as the program went, on Saturday the Prince was landed by tall ship, the original Black Pearl (no, it was not a pirate ship, Disney stole the name from this ship; its got a great history)a gorgeous 75' brigantine. Once landed, we re-created the raising of the standard at Glenfinnan to an enthusiastic crowd. We did a variety of demonstrations, a parade and then did a cannon and tactics demonstration featuring the highland charge for a large crowd. Lord Elcho (Elliot MacFarlane) is a long-time participant in the event and so we had a chance to see his excellent display and presentation. Sunday was a bit more relaxed but we did a similar series of presentations without the landing.

So overall the weekend was a great success. Going forward, I understand Fort Ontario is back on the rails and would like us again Labor Day weekend next year which I would like to see. But in addition, there will likely be some form of encampment at this event because of how well it went. As for May, since several groups were represented over the course of the weekend we were able to meet Sunday afternoon to have some interaction and planning for the future. We had some great discussion and in the end the consensus was to narrow the number of sites we utilize and to alternate events between the US and Ontario to reflect the geographic location of most of the groups. This is a great step and hopefully by the end of the month we'll have details in place for May.

This has been a challenging year in many ways. At one point we had no events planned due to site challenges and so struggled badly. But in the true spirit of this group we rallied and had a decent season. Thank you for your continued support and efforts. Next year looks very promising. We have great interest from some excellent sites so thing look very sunny. I'll be in touch with further details as they arise.

For God
For Scotland
and for King James!

your servant,
Chris Timm