As a proud Welsh redhead, I had a lovely time perusing the different booths at the Sonora Celtic Faire, which this year was hosted in Angels Camp. My friend and I went on a Friday, which was the educational day and which was more geared towards family and children. There was no alcohol served and while there was a fantastic bagpipe player serenading people with the Outlander theme song, there was not a wealth of live entertainment (the alcohol, live music and other interactive performances happen on both the Saturday and Sunday of the faire.) We both knew that the festivities were paired down on Friday, and we both were more excited about exploring the vendors. The grounds were fantastic and all of the vendors were so personable and genuinely thrilled to be part of the annual event. We sampled teas, admired Celtic wood-working, gushed over Native American beaded hats, tried on cute flowy shirts and much more. My favorite aspect of this event was definitely the people. Everyone we encountered was so friendly and passionate about celtic wares. It was a heart-warming experience in so many ways. If you ever have the opportunity to check out this annual event - do. If you are looking for a rowdy time and enjoy people watching - I recommend coming by early on a Saturday or Sunday (I've heard that parking gets tough later on in the day). If you're like me and prefer getting a mellow peek at the Celtic stalls in advance of the busier weekend - Friday is your day. Trust. read more

First time to this Faire. It was spread out nicely and had some great vendors . Had the Bacon Pasties ... yummy ! We also enjoyed the historical area. We came to hear the bands . Our favorite being Seven Nations . No disappointments at all . Parking is not great and we just walked from Downtown . read more

Celtic Faire - Seven Nations - Festivals Near Me - Angels Camp, California

My wife and I decided to check this event out. It was pretty cool. Decent size with a good amount of included with the price shows. There were a ton of vendors but that's how it goes. Clothes and Celtic themed items. They had live bands every hour. A sword shallower. Jousting and sword fighting. Lots of people in garb walking around. It was a little pricy at 25 per but they do offer presale tickets. We will be going again. read more

See all

This is a great way to explore your heritage or someone else's. I've always had an awesome time attending this Faire and recommend to anyone. I've been going since a young child and I've always enjoyed myself. My favorite feature is the bands that play! read more

I've been to the Faire a few times now and it's quite enjoyable! This year was no exception... I can't quite see spending all 3 days here, one is plenty for me, but still fun all the same. There are lots of interesting and unique vendors. Delicious fair food (meat pies, turkey legs, etc.) although, I do wish they would have had corned beef! There's a section for guilds, groups that use old techniques to make things like armor and wool; very interesting and informative. There are jousters, jugglers, mock battles, and music throughout the day. Plenty of beer/alcohol booths available, so not too much waiting in line. All-in-all a nice festival to have in our area! read more

I visited the faire this year with my mom. I was pleasantly surprised! It was really well laid out with lots of vendors. There was a lot of Irish Scottish and Celtic vendors and I loved that it really felt like a Celtic festival not just a bunch of random food vendors. They had music and shows going constantly. We saw joisting, 2 bands, street show, and a magician and knife swallower. Tye people who attend get really into it and dress up. If you are into you can get lots of stuff here! Costumes, jewelry, cutlery, leather good, tiaras and so much more. We also got a henna tattoo and the woman was very sweet but pretty over priced. Overall I recommend this event. Note that parking is $10 and for two adults we paid $44. You'll need cash to get in so be prepared to skip the atm. Also we went on a Sunday and it was still a full day. read more

Celtic Faire - Henna art from the faire - Festivals Near Me - Angels Camp, California

Convenient Parking - VIP only Best Music and Shows - VIP only Fair closes at 7:30 for all non-VIPs So, if you don't have the $125.00 VIP tickets you can forget about being admitted into music venues after 6:00 PM (on Saturday Night!) or parking on site at the Fairgrounds. Parking for non-VIP - Drive up the hill to park (it's a hike at the end of the day). This was our 4th consecutive Faire in Sonora, with all the best things now VIP only, we won't be back. ______________ I sent my complaint to the organizers and the following is what I received: From: Patrick Karnahan Sent: Monday, March 13, 2017 1:15 PM To: Linda Lawson-Bruton Cc: Patrick Karnahan; Gary Britt Subject: RE: VIP? Last year going to the Celtic Fair Yes the VIP was actually for people who want to come all three days. Just could have easily been called a" 3-day pass special with added bonus value". Really the only difference was we decided to end the fair at 7 o'clock on Saturday because vendors were complaining about being open for so many long hours. As it was we were open from 10 to 7 p.m. a total of 9 hours. As far as the parking part of it goes, there's only a hundred and sixty spots that we could possibly have available for VIPs or anybody for that matter. The reason we did the VIP party or better word for Celi', which was also available online as a Saturday upgrade ticket for anybody to purchase non-vip. Was because the building capacity and the fact that there are few people that remain on the fairgrounds after 7 p.m. in General. In past years where we remain open to 9 p.m. we would end up with only a handful of people on the ground. Most people who come to the fair enjoy the nine hours then get tired and usually go into town to have dinner and do not come back. In the future we might just close at 7 p.m. on Saturday and not do anything past the hour because of the darkness and security interest. Most other festivals that offer any evening activities usually will do it a separate location like a conference center or hotel and charge a separate fee. I disagree with you and feel we offer great value. The bands we hire and specifically the jousting show and rent of the facility is extremely expensive. And considering last year we had to do it with rain and flooding. We still have to pay those groups no matter if you decide to show up or not, , rain or shine I would suggest you try Murphy's Irish day in the future it is completely free. So unfortunately you might have to face the fact that there is much drinking, fist fights, and extreme parking issues, even worse than our Fairgrounds. I think we put on a good quality experience for the family. A child admission is only $12 for 9 hours of entertainment. We also do an entire educational school program on Friday all day for those that don't have a lot of money and school groups. Last time I went to Disneyland it was over a hundred and $27 for the adult and $96 for a kid on top of that I had to stand in line 2 hours for each mechanical contraption. Then consider our Fair,, it's real humans, real one-on-one which something that our generation is lacking. Good luck in your future endeavors. Sincerely Patrick __________________________ My final resonse: We have been able to park in the lot closest to the faire every year we have attended. My husband and I are both only a few years until 60 and I have arthritis in my knee making walking up a hill inordinately painful. When we arrived there were at least 10 spots open - looks like some of your 'preferred' faire goers did not show up. Perhaps you can consider that, when 'loyal' attendees are told they are not IMPORTANT enough (not a VIP), to enter certain places at certain times, it's a true slap in the face. I might also add that I am not the only one that was offended and insulted - check your other reviews. One woman wrote that she had been going for (I think) 15 or 16 years and she was denied the shows that she looked so forward to seeing! As for you telling us to go to another faire - ok, I hear you're saying "Too bad - go to [add expletive]". I've never gotten that kind of response when showing a disappointment in any event, especially one that I've excitedly promoted multiple times and told many friends and family about. I guess professionals welcome input but you just want us to go somewhere that there are frequent physical encounters. I appreciate your getting back to me as quickly as you did . Certainly I will add your response to the many reviews I have posted. read more