This past weekend I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to the Three Rivers festival located at the Ravens Knoll in southern Ontario. This was the tenth year anniversary for the festival and it was attended by Druids and pagans all across the land from the United States, the Ontario region and my self from Eastern Canada.

I flew in on Thursday and met Rev. Jon “Drum” Pagano at the airport. We took the beautiful two-hour drive north and found our footing in the Knoll pretty quickly. We were greeted by Sarah “Sandy” Finn the ADF Members Advocate and her partner Mouse. As time went on we had the opportunity to meet other internet familiar names like Rev. Chelly Couvrette and Rev. Lisa Wasilkowsky Malik. That Thursday night was fairly laid back and relaxed with no real plans other than fire and good conversation.

Friday was the first official day of the festival began with a variety of workshops and opportunities to meet new people. In due time, we were joined by Rev. Bonnie Lin Landry from the United States. That morning started off with an open discussion about Druidry in Canada which was an amazing opportunity for Rev. Lisa to tell us all about the ADF
Hearth Program. This was followed up by a great discussion about Brighid by the great Brian Walsh. The we finished up the afternoon with some poetry read by Judith Senior Druid to Lake of Oaks grove as well as a discussion concerning the Initiate program by Rev. Chelly. We moved onto a ritual honouring Lugh and Manannan mac Lir in the Nematon. We ended the day with a potluck shared by all attending and a great discussion concerning Elf-Locks, Lufa and Wichtelzopf from the Ravens knoll host Auz.

Saturday started off with fresh coffee and an Irish breakfast and we quickly moved into the ADF Canada East Regional meeting. The two main topics of discussion where the moving of the Three Rivers festival to Thornhaven and creating an ADF place of worship in Canada. The conversation was passionate and heartfelt on all sides. I look forward to seeing how that progresses. 

The final topic was the discussion the formation of ADF Canada. this has been a project for many over the years and we have agreed to form an online committee to look into the paperwork required for such an association to exist. Another thing that we will discover more about in the coming months. After the discussion, Rev. Drum lead a fantastic workshop about the Three Kindred and our connections to those beings.

After the meeting the festival goers began to get themselves ready for the Brighid Shrine dedication ritual put on by Rev. Lisa. It was a beautiful dedication to a triumphant team effort by the four groves in the area to create shrines to the shining ones in the Ravens Knoll Nematon. I had not been to the previous shrine dedications but, I will say this was one of the most aesthetically pleasing and powerful rituals I have had the opportunities to attend. The artist of the Brighid Bust, for those curious, is Denisa Prochazka and the alter she sits on was crafted by Leo Lanoy Dit Watier.

After the Ritual, the Ravens Knoll crew threw a fantastic feast! From Greenman Potatoes to Irish eggs and Irish stew it was just delicious all around. We then had the opportunity to listen to the musical talents of Ellen MacIsaac and Danny Doyle as well as an encore performance by Libby Hortop.

We ended the night with the annual Bardic competition at which I was honoured to be a judge. The competition was fierce and hilarious but in the end, Leo stood the champion for the year. 

The next day being Sunday, it was my time to say goodbye to everyone and made my way back