Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007 | 7:18 a.m.
What: The 2007 "Age of Chivalry" Renaissance Faire
When: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday , 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: Sunset Park, 2601 E. Sunset Road
Tickets: $10 for adults; $5 for seniors 60 and older and children; free for children younger than 5; 455-8200, 474-4000 or ticketmaster.com
Seating: Moderate accessibility with wheelchair access; no specialized or hearing-impaired seating
Rules: No cans, drinks (one plastic bottle of water is OK), bottles, alcoholic beverages, coolers, firearms (with or without permit), sticks, balls, bats, chains, clubs, bullhorns, animals (except seeing-eye dogs), lawn chairs, squirt guns or water guns; no unauthorized vending, concessions, merchandise, literature or promotions
Concessions: Water, food, soda and alcohol will be sold
Parking: Free and available throughout the park; car pooling is recommended
A sampling of what to expect:
Enter the Haggis - has an international touring and recording career based on its unusual approach to Celtic-based music and high-energy performances
The Fenians - an Irish musical quintet based in Southern California that combines Celtic, rock, folk, bluegrass and jazz
Heather Alexander - sings Celtic songs
Istanpitta - plays authentic Renaissance music
Gladius - gladiator fights
The Merrie Mary Show - juggling, comedy, acrobatics
Scottish Lord Rusty - magician
Warhorse - jousting tournament
Sheep Herding - dogs herd sheep
Battle Royale - swords, arrows, cannon, knights on horseback
Blood of Heroes Tournament - two teams fight for supremacy of the Skull
Strolling performers - Adam Reid, comedic juggler; the Hand of Fatima, belly dancers; the Magik of Morgen deGray, magic, juggling and comedy
The most entertaining place in the Entertainment Capital this weekend won't be in a showroom on the Strip but in a park south east of the airport, where the 12th annual Renaissance Faire will get under way Friday.
Think "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Robin Hood" and Shakespeare and "Braveheart" (Mel Gibson dressed like Blue Man Group in kilts).
And think Wild Celts (for us non-Gaelics, that's pronounced Wild Kelts).
This Irish band from Dublin leads an eclectic entertainment roster that includes everything from jousting to juggling to sheep herding and sword fighting. This won't be an ordinary weekend at Sunset Park.
"This is one of the best cultural events in Las Vegas," says Dublin-born singer/songwriter Odouling (one name only, please). "It has nothing to do with casinos and conventions - not to say casinos and conventions are bad, but it's nice to have a break from all of that once in awhile. This has been running for 12 years now, so it's a pretty important thing."
Odouling has performed for five of them, playing on one of seven stages set up in the park.
"The Renaissance festival isn't an Irish festival, but that medieval time lends itself to the kind of Celtic thing," he said.
Other groups scheduled to perform include Enter the Haggis and The Fenians.
"The festival exposes locals to a lot of cultures," Odouling said. "Vendors come from all over the country to display their art - from San Francisco to the East Coast."
The landscape will be awash with folks in medieval costumes, but Odouling won't be one of them.
"I've been known to wear a kilt, depending on the weather," he said, "but I don't get into the medieval thing."
What he gets into is the music.
"I call what I do Irish rock 'n' roll, with traditional fiddles and mandolins but a really heavy back beat of drums, bass and guitar," Odouling said. "Others might call it Celtic rock, but Celtic rock to me is kind of a dirty word. There are too many pretenders who use it."
Odouling has been infusing the town with Irish rock for eight years. Before coming to the United States his Wild Celts , based in London, toured Europe. But the lure of Las Vegas was strong, so they ended up here in 1999. Half the band returned home soon after, but Odouling and drummer Tim Jones stayed.
The reformed band landed a gig with the J.C. Wooloughan Irish Pub at the JW Marriott in Summerlin.
"I was in there having a drink one night and Mr. J.C. Wooloughan himself came in," Odouling said. "He's an old Irish guy who used to run marathons. He asked me what I did and I told him and he told me to go up and give us a song there. Well, I had had a few drinks, and so I did - and I was offered a contract.
"We built up a huge following there. You couldn't get a seat in the house. It was one of the best singles places in Las Vegas."
The Wild Celts moved to Palace Station when it opened Jack's Irish Pub in 2001.
"The first week we opened 9/11 happened," Odouling said. "We thought ... it's over. But people needed to party and forget about the troubles even more."
For the past four years the Wild Celts have performed through the week at Brendan's Irish Pub in The Orleans. And they're back at Jack's on weekends.
Odouling is working on a new album, a follow-up to his "Day at the Races" in '04.
He took time off to check out the Los Angeles music scene a year ago, but he prefers Vegas.
"In L.A. you're working with a different type of people," Odouling said. "Vegas has a better scene here, a better caliber of actual musicians. I came back here with a new found appreciation of the town."
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