The sweetly-anticipated day of joy, the marriage of Stefan Liedle to Judith Kauffman, came on Oct. 17th. Hearts are overflowing.

The Highländlers was one of 9 international teams to take part in this year’s Folkmoot International Festival:

http://www.folkmootusa.org/

From their website:

Folkmoot USA, North Carolina’s Official International Festival, is a two-week celebration of the world’s cultural heritage through folk music and dance. Held each summer across the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina, Folkmoot features performances, a parade and workshops by up to 350 performers from ten or so countries.

Performers demonstrate cultural heritage through colorful, authentic and original reproduction costumes, lively dance and beautiful music. During its 26-year history, over 200 folk groups from more than 100 countries have shared their heritage and culture at Folkmoot USA.

The Highländlers received a last-minute invitation to fill in for a team that was unable to get visas to enter the United States. Though we are an American team, we represented the country of Scotland. Other countries performing in the 2009 Festival included: Serbia, Greece, Netherlands, Romania, Mexico, Togo, Spain and Israel.
For the 2 weeks of the festival, we lived together in an old school, which had been converted to house and feed the many musicians, dancers, and volunteers who brought a spectrum of world culture to the Appalachian mountains.

A delightful experience!