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Celtic Festival Missoula celebrates in song, dance - and road bowling

As the swirl and trill of an old Irish jig wafted through the air over Caras Park on Saturday afternoon, Missoula resident Mike Fowlkes stood tall and proud in the garb of his ancestors: a dark tartan kilt with a black sporran pouch in the front, black dress shoes under knee-high white socks, a green beret and white ghillie shirt.

"I usually wear utility kilts most days," he said, "but I break out the more formal stuff for special occasions."

For Fowlkes and folks of his heritage, Saturday was a big day, as Celtic Festival Missoula played out in music, dance, storytelling and Highlander beer. Launched last year by the folks at Highlander as a way to celebrate the brew's 100th anniversary, the festival offered a taste of traditional Celtic activities, food and entertainment to a crowd that swelled to more than 1,000 people by late afternoon.

"To see this crowd, it's so great after all the work we put into it," said Shannon Lukes, one of the event's primary organizers.

The festival actually began in the early morning, on a walking trail near Florence, where 38 teams of two people participated in a game of traditional Irish road bowling. Each team took turns rolling a 28-ounce metal ball through a mile-and-a-half course, with the goal of seeing who could cover the rolling trail in the fewest throws.

"It was a lot of fun and a great way to kick off the day," said Lukes' husband, Bob, owner of the Highlander beer brand, which is now brewed by Great Northern Brewing Co. in Whitefish.

Dressed in a utility kilt of brown canvas over Teva sandals, Lukes said the turnout for the morning's bowling and the afternoon festival reflected the importance of Irish and other Celtic cultures in western Montana.

"It seems like a natural thing for this community with such a strong Irish heritage," he said. "And in that sense, it made natural sense for us at Highlander to help make it happen."

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Though few in the crowd arrived dressed like Bob Lukes or Fowlkes, plenty seemed intrigued by the variety of activities and wares offered at the event. Big Dipper Ice Cream drew a constant line to its familiar yellow ice cream truck for cones of Highlander beer ice cream; local restaurants including Sean Kelly's and the Silk Road kept the crowd fed with pasties and other traditional table fare; and traveling vendor Sam Matthews had a banner day of sales at his House of Celts booth.

"I made almost all my (booth fee) money back before I even opened," beamed the Oklahoma-based vendor of books, ties, jewelry and other Celtic traditional items. "I've been doing Celtic festivals around the country for 10 or 12 years, and this one, they've done a nice job putting it together.

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