[Bards] What was the best bardic circle you ever attended and why?

[Gerald Norris]

The subject is the question.

I'll start.

There are several that stick in my mind; the night at a Loch event where
Cadfin was telling a story, and right at the climactic moment the burning
log broke in two, releasing a shower of sparks and a leaping blaze of fire.
The night Alden was cajoled into performing around a fire at Gulf Wars for
two reasons; Alden's singing was  hilarious, and Lady Brialce, Lord Maddog
of Glastonbury's good wife, sat in front of me, facing the fire and
performed a butterfly dance, swaying and fluttering her hands, as I played
the Irish slip-jig The Butterfly.  A circle at Ravensfort that Mistress
Eleanor Fairchild and I hosted.  All of these are inspiration for me, time
and again, to join a circle, to walk the fires, to sing, to listen, to
laugh.

There are two that are currently my best memories.  They can always bring a
smile to my face, even in times of stress.  Of them, I think my favorite was
the Ansteorran circle held this last Gulf War.

Loch Soillier's brewer's guild had stepped up to a request I had made for
them to supply the brew at a bardic circle.  We had the idea a year before,
and I had been told that it had been a success, and so I asked them to
repeat it.  

We had a fire, we had refreshments, and with some help we advertised the
circle, and people started showing up.  I was the nominal host, and in one
sense I "ran" the circle, as I'd call on people from time to time to
perform.  I have grown to like the pick, pass, or play method at most
circles, but I hadn't brought a lantern and pretty much bulled my way
through it.  And the performances were wonderful.  Bards from several
kingdoms gathered, and those who knew other bards would come and ask if I
knew that so and so over there was a wonderful story teller, or this lady
has a wonderful voice, or this young man does wonderful poetry.  The ale and
lemonade flowed and the performances ranged from high to low, coarse to
refined, and all between.  I made a point to start popular sing-along songs
from time to time; old favorites that most everyone knew the chorus to, or
could learn it after a couple of repetitions.

What did I like about it?  The vast array of talented individuals, one after
another, who came and performed, the large group of audience who wanted
nothing more than to sit by a fire, drink their drink, and watch the
performers, and the joy the performers took in practicing their craft.

So.  Share YOUR memory.  Tell us why.

In service to the dream with a song in my heart, I am,
HL Gerald of Leesville
A bard of Stargate