Memories

The staff at KCIF spend pretty much every minute of their Labor Day weekend -- and for some, they spend the week -- on the grounds of Crown Center Square to set up and manage the Fest. A lot is learned about each other, sometimes culturally. And, a lot of memories are made over a few beers. Here is a favorite moment from KCIF director, Dublin-area native and Boulevard keg designer Davey Colgan.

In Uncky Bloggy’s absence, I would like to share a moment from last year's Irish Fest with you all.

As it seems to go, Ireland was playing a vital World Cup qualifier (which in the end didn’t turn out to be quite so vital as we failed to qualify for the tournament, boo Thierry Henry and Les Blues) against the mighty Cyprus. Our Fearless Leader, Rory O' Connor, with a computer and dodgy projector in hand managed to jerry-rig a way to watch to the game from a room at the Hyatt.

Once the 'all clear' was given, the secret-code signal was sent out across the walkie talkies, “The game’s on, get your arse’s over here!” A small band of Irishmen gathered to stare at a fuzzy, jumpy picture accompanied by a tangled audio feed that seemed better at confusing us than describing the action.

That group was myself, Rory, Ronan Collins (our Comedy King), Mr. Liam O' Maonlai of The Hothouse Flowers and Ardal O' Hanlon.

We had a beer, talked about how bad Ireland was and discussed Ardal’s love for Leeds Utd (Ha). And in the end, when Ireland scored the winning goal against a poor Cypriot side, we jumped from our seats cursing and didn’t high five each other – as is the Irish way.

So there you have it. The game was poor, Ireland was awful, the result was ok, and the picture and sound were terrible. But the craic was 90.

If you happen to be wandering around the Hyatt or possibly Crown Center over the Festival this year and hear a load of foul language drowning some very poor audio, interspersed with snippets of Irish commentary, now you’ll know that inside that room is just a few eejits giving out about their Football team with a conspicuous lack of high fiving but having a grand old time.

Davey