Heritage and culture are celebrated at the Celtic festival

October 7, 2017

BEECH LAKE, Tenn. — Bagpipes and kilts are just some of the things people relate to Scottish heritage. Scotland being one of several countries considered a Celtic nation.

“Over two-thirds of the population in Tennessee can trace back to Scotland or Ireland, and that’s not counting the other seven or so Celtic countries; Wales, and Isle of Man, and Cornwall,” said Sue Bates, secretary of the Celtic Society of West Tennessee.

So Saturday at Beech Lake in Lexington, the Celtic Society of West Tennessee hosted the Celtic Festival, an event to celebrate and educate guests on their culture and heritage.

“We have bagpiper and drummer here today,” Bates said. “Bagpipes are always pretty soul stirring for people to hear.”

Bagpiper Bear Whitworth says, he enjoys educating people through music that has been passed down in his family for generations.

“It’s great that people are interested in it and all. In this day and age you want to grab onto something to have an identity, and this is a way that people can kind of relate,” said Whitworth.

Event attendees were also able to sample Celtic flavor.

“This is a Cornish pastie. They originated in Cornwall, England. The miners in the 1400’s used to take these into the mines with them. They could eat them with one hand and they warmed them on top of their lanterns,” said food vendor Carol Preuss.

“It’s got meat, potatoes, onions, celery, corn, carrots, things like that, and you just bake them,” Preuss said.

Representatives say, it is important to know what makes you who you are.

“You don’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been,” Whitworth said.