By Charly SHELTON

I was raised a proud Irish boy. My mother, Mary O’Keefe, impressed the importance of our Irish heritage upon me and my two sisters, all of whom carry the O’Keefe name as middle names. I married a good Irish woman whose family ties include clans Hall and Hanley, and we had an Irish wedding on St. Patrick’s Day with hand fasting, and honeymooned in Ireland where we visited the ancestral lands of our families. Suffice it to say, I jump at any chance I can find for a Celtic event or party. Yet, somehow, despite visiting the Queen Mary in Long Beach on several occasions, I had never before attended its annual Scots Festival, now in its 25th year. There was an Irish fair in Pomona that left me wanting, a Celtic fair in Long Beach that was only okay but had some good entertainment, and the annual St. Patrick’s Day madhouse in Downtown LA that I will never go to again. Most of the events were bland at best.

But not Scots Fest. I don’t want to make a blanket statement on the quality of Celtic fairs, but this may be the most fun I’ve had in years at any similar event.

Yes this is a Scottish-based festival and not Irish, but all Celts come together here to share and share alike with the American people. This offers a oneness of many cultures blending together as brothers and sisters who were once oppressed by Britain. The Irish county kilts blended in with the Scottish clan kilts and the thing that we all agreed on was that if you’re wearing underwear, it’s called a skirt. And this sentiment was reflected on many T-shirts seen throughout the event. For anyone who has no connection to a clan, the Long Beach tartan was developed and sold at the event because everyone in attendance allies to that clan.

Located both in the festival area and at several places throughout the ship herself, there were Scottish events to suit any taste – bagpiping competitions and concerts, step dancing competitions and shows, obstacle courses for children and adults, a craft fair, Celtic retailers, a Celtic tea room by Welsh Cakes, pubs, bars, Scottish foods, a recreation Scottish renaissance village, a fair queen, parades and grand displays, Kirkin O’ the Tartans, Celtic culinary demonstrations, Scotch whisky tasting, live birds of prey shows, shepherding demonstrations and more. Seriously, more than even that. Something for absolutely everyone. The star of the festival, however, was the Highland games.

Hammer throwing, putting the stone (shotput with a rock), height events (tossing a bale of hay over a high jump bar with a pitchfork) and the all-important caber toss (throwing 20-foot-tall trees, trimmed of leaves). Thankfully the festival is in February so the fans don’t get baked to a crisp from sitting in the stands for several hours to watch these amazing athletes throw large rocks and trees. Even if you don’t intend to sit and watch the games, you get sucked in while walking by and end up standing on the sidelines for 30 minutes because that guy just lifted a tree and threw it across the field. A tree.

The fair was a lot of fun and, although it ran for two days over the weekend, I don’t know how these exhibitors and weekend ticketholders did it. After the close of the festival day one, I was so exhausted I went home and slept hard, while the other attendees moved the party to one of two pop-up pubs – Greyfriar’s Pub on the Verandah Deck of the ship and the Ceilidh, a traditional Gaelic celebration of clans.

The event brought people together from all over Southern California to celebrate Celtic heritage, with some in attendance originally from Scotland, looking to celebrate their home.

“I’m still Scottish at heart but I’m American. So it’s a taste of home,” said Maureen McCourt from Apple Valley. She emigrated from Dundee, Scotland in 1959 at the age of 18 and has raised a family here, and now attends the festival every year with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And, as an added connection to the event, her uncle came over to New York aboard the Queen Mary when she was the troop transport ship The Grey Ghost back in World War II.

The event was well organized, fun and something I can’t wait to return to next year, and hopefully stay late for the pub.

For more information, visit QueenMary.com.

  Charly Shelton