News: Calaveras Celtic Festival Has Moved to Sonora for 2008!!

Change of venue for Celtic Faire 

ANGELS CAMP - The Celtic Faire is leaving Frogtown after a nine-year run as a major music and culture festival every March.

Celtic Faire founder Patrick Karnahan said the festival is moving to Sonora - where it originated in 1986 - because festival leaders couldn’t strike a deal with Calaveras County Fair and Frogtown manager Ray Malerbi. The next Celtic Faire will be held at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds in Sonora from March 7-9.

“They are trying to take over too much of our fair,” Karnahan said of the contract offered by Malerbi. “When Ray came in (five years ago), they took over the management of our parking, and they brought in the concessionaire to sell alcohol. It just makes it a little more difficult for us to make a profit, especially in lean years when we have snow and rain.”

In addition to an international showcase of Celtic music groups, the Celtic Faire offers Irish and Scottish dancing, highland games such as caber tossing, food vendors and full contact armored jousting.

Karnahan said his group estimates the event generates at least an additional $100,000 in hotel and restaurant revenue in the surrounding community.

That fact wasn’t lost on Calaveras County business leaders as news of the move spread Friday.

“I am sure the majority of Calaveras County will be affected,” said Bruce Tallakson, vice president of the Calaveras County Chamber of Commerce.

Malerbi said he didn’t know how unhappy Celtic Faire organizers were. He characterized his contracts with the Celtic Faire as helpful because of the many duties - such as hiring golf carts and cleaning restrooms - that were taken care of by Frogtown staff.

“We shared parking. We shared alcohol revenue with them. All those type of things,” Malerbi said.

Malerbi said the abrupt announcement of the rupture leaves him without a festival in early March and without adequate time to find a similar-size event.

Neither Malerbi nor Karnahan would offer specifics about the dollar value of the contracts involved. Malerbi said Frogtown’s take depended on the number of admissions to the Celtic Faire and was in the range of $8,000 to $10,000 in good years, before expenses.

Karnahan said the Celtic Faire draws about 10,000 people on good years, as happened in March. In 2006, in contrast, only about 4,000 attended, he said.

“We had 8 inches (of snow), and the power was out (in 2006),” Karnahan said. “Even in a bad year we still do pretty good.”

Weather is another reason to move to Sonora, Karnahan said. The Mother Lode Fairgrounds has more indoor performance spaces with good acoustics and is within walking distance of more hotels, enabling fairgoers to attend even if snow closes down roads.

Also, Sonora is still an easy drive from Stockton and Modesto, the home cities of most Celtic Faire guests, Karnahan said.

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