Stumping For Stumpy's

I love Irish Fest. I love being a small part of what's quickly become one of the country's biggest Irish events. I love that we're lucky enough to be big enough to be able to bring world-class bands like The Saw Doctors, Damien Dempsey, Eileen Ivers, Gaelic Storm, Solas and all the other entertainers who've graced our stages. I love seeing tens of thousands of happy people singing and dancing and eating and drinking at Crown Center. I love it all. No big surprise there, I'm sure.

But I'll tell you, I'm a sentimental guy. And sometimes I miss the parking lot days in Brookside and Westport. As you may or may not know, the Kansas City Irish Fest is the offspring of two much smaller neighborhood festivals in Brookside where I live now and in Westport where I grew up. I worked on all of both during their four year runs and those were special days. There's something great about that neighborhood feel, that small scale intimacy.

So God bless Kevin Ryan and crew at Governor Stumpy's restaurant up the road in Waldo for giving us all a chance to get that feeling again. This coming weekend Stumpy's presents their annual Celtic Festival, this year expanded to two days.

Saturday, May 24th 6-9 p.m. it's Dan Doran on stage. And Sunday, the big day, a great line up of local music:

For the kids, Dino O Dell 3-4 p.m.

Connacht Town 4:15-5:30 p.m.

Flannigan's Right Hook 5:45-7 p.m.

The Elders 7:15-9 p.m.

Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the gate. A quartet of VIP deck tickets will run you and three of your pals $100. If I can find three people willing to pretend to be my friends, I might go that route. At any rate, I'll see you in the parking lot.