Rockin' and jammin' Celtic style

Retired Carson City man Tom Morrison was walking in West Carson Sunday when the beat of distant rock music caught his attention. He followed the noise and found the Brewery Arts Center's Carson Celtic Faire.

"I like things like this," he said, "It's so nice to be outside."

On stage, the Celtic rock band Tempest was jamming. Bassist Arine Cap bounced in orange pants as a group of Irish dancers in velvet dresses went up to perform an impromptu reel.

Fiddle player Michael Mullen, wearing a studded black kilt, jumped off stage and joined the spinning dancers drawing cheers from the crowd.

"Yeah, this is really nice," said Morrison with a smile. "Anything that draws people out is fun."

The two-day event was held on the art center's parking lot at the corner of King and Minnesota streets. Vendors offered silver jewelry, wall hangings and dark Guinness beer from under shade structures while music lovers watched from folding chairs.

Irish dancing performances were done by some of Miriam Blanchette's 60 students.

"It was a lot of fun," said dancer Quina Cannon, 12, after a set.

She's been doing light jigs, trebles, horn pipes and limericks - all types of Irish dance - for 8 years. The girls ran into a few wardrobe malfunctions because of high winds on Saturday, she said.

"It was very interesting. We had a couple of Marilyn Monroes."

Sean Cummings of South Lake Tahoe played his Great Highland Bagpipes both days of the faire. His business card reads "have pipes, will travel." His attire Sunday was so authentic it even included a fur sporran hanging in front of his kilt.

"It's basically a purse," he explained. "There are no pockets on a kilt so you keep your flask in here."

Brewery Arts Center Executive Director Phil Caterino watched him perform. He said the fair was inspired by a similar fair held in Reno. He hopes to make the Celtic faire an annual event.

"We talked about making it an annual event during the planning and now that we've seen how well it went I think we'll want to do it every year," he said.

Contact Karl Horeis at khoreis@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.