Today, Bill and I decided to go to Nagold and visit the Kelten-fest.  Seems to me Kelten-fest is held every other year, but I could be wrong.  We were here for the one in 2015, but we never managed to get there when it was happening.  Since we are of Celtic origin ourselves, we made a point of going this year.  The fest is held in a large area near the river in Nagold.  One area is host to tents where crafts are made and sold.  Another area is where Highland games are held and musicians play.

In order to take part in the fun, you have to pay an entry fee.  A regular daily ticket is 6 euros, though if you buy the “Festkarte”, it’s 10 euros.  Go after five o’clock, and the price drops to 4 euros.  Kids under age 18 who are with their parents are free.

After we paid and got our blue wristbands, we wandered around and checked out the sights and scenes.  Celtic music played on a sound system as lads and lasses in kilts and other Celtic garb took part in the games, drank beer, ate food, or otherwise cavorted.  I kind of wished we had kilts.  Next time we go to Scotland, we’ll have to get outfitted.

The “kasse”, where you purchase your tickets.  If you go now, you won’t pay full price for today.

Helpful map points, not that it’s easy to get lost.

I was feeling too shy to pull out my good camera at this point, but it finally came out later.  These folks were participating in the Highland Games.  They had several different ones going on…

A pig was roasting nearby.  There were also people smoking salmon on wooden planks.  Those who preferred wurst and sauerkraut were also in luck! 

They were carrying this pole and running through a maze of trees…

And in this area, there were folks tossing poles.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to watch much of this event.

Across the way, there were craftsmen and women creating and selling their wares.  There were even a few animals.

Chilled out goats and a cow.

Blacksmith, doing it old school style.

Chickens!  There was also a very lazy pig in the next pen, but I didn’t manage to get a shot.

As you can see, lots to see and do and plenty of people dressed the part.

I had to take a couple of wildflower shots, too.  Time to update my Facebook cover.

Bill buys us a couple of black beers made by Hochdorfer, the local brewery.

We got larges.  Be warned, the pfand for these beers is very high…  five euros!  If you get a small beer, it’s only one euro.  Bill gave this guy twenty euros and when we turned in our glasses, we got ten euros back.  

Cool glass, though…

This was a “steak” sandwich.  I think it was pork and it had ketchup on it.  It was pretty good and not too much.  It pays to remember that steak is actually a cut and not necessarily a hunk of beef.

Obviously still photos wouldn’t do, so I took a video.  See below.

And a video of the Battle on the Water!

If you have young kids, you might enjoy taking them to Nagold’s playground.  It’s pretty cool.  Literally, it’s cool…  There’s also mini golf and a really awesome public pool that wasn’t too crowded and looked really inviting.  Hmmm… maybe we should go back!

After we walked around a bit more, we headed to Der Weinladen and picked up a few bottles of wine for the weekend.  Then we had some ice cream at Panorama.  While we were eating these ice cream sundaes, which were loaded with liqueur, by the way, we ran into a lady who always walks her pug along the same route we do with our dogs.  I felt like a total native as we said hello!  And tomorrow, we’ve been invited to a neighborhood party… our first in three years of living here (and in fact, we were not invited to any parties last time we lived here, either).

These hit the spot!

On the way out of Nagold, we stopped by the Edeka and I ran in to get some tequila and ice cream.  While I was standing in the “schnell line”, which wasn’t actually very “schnell”, I had the chance to check out the cigarette packages.  I noticed that here in Germany, it’s not enough to put warnings on the labels.  And it’s not enough to make the labels huge.  They have to put pictures of people with stomas, cancer, and other cigarette induced maladies on the packages.  I must say, it make me laugh ruefully.  People will still buy their cigarettes.  Seriously, if you live in Germany or have a chance to visit, check out the cigarette packs.  Crazy stuff!

I think Denis Leary says it best about smoking, right?  Although I am not a smoker myself…  Just so you know, this video is probably NSFW.  

 

We had a great time at the Kelten-fest.  I’m glad we went.  I hope we’ll be around for the next one.  Maybe then, we’ll even wear kilts!