Day One -- Slainte!

My oldest sister and I decided to arrive in the night hours, because Flogging Molly was the night-time band gig we were to see. They are an Irish rock band, and their combo style was very intriguing. We could hear them from within the food court, and we decided to sit and eat and have a listen. We neared the stage later on in the concert, and got in on some good jigging. I saw an Asian family attempting the jig, and it was pretty cool to see the combination of nationalities there enjoying the Irish!

It was exciting to see how many people had come to celebrate, but it wasn't long before I noticed something quite disturbing: underage drinkers. There were hundreds of "kid-looking" kids there with a plastic cup of beer in their hands.

It was Dazed and Confused at the Irish Festival!! And by that I mean, the alcohol party off near the water tower, where everyone and their pet turtle could come for some beer. Where were the easily identifiable arm bands for 21 and over drinkers, where the drink vendors could deny underage service? No one thought of this?! Surely it wasn't expected by the local authorities for the vendors to card everyone who came by. This is unreal; it's the Irish we speak of, folks!! I realized then and there that the night-time Irish Festival was opened up to any alcohol-prone high school student and college binge drinker. For 10 bucks they could deteriorate their young livers and go around groping and sweating over everyone. The combined smells of wet straw, body odor, and sauerkraut quickly became nausiating.

We headed over to some vendors selling what seemed to be Irish-made items. I recognized a few vendors who I knew where of Irish descent, but the others may have been Irish-like items made by sweat factories in Mongolia. The plan was to look tonight, and then buy in the morning. I decided to walk away from the festival with a neckalace, and (if I could) something that had my Irish family name on it.