This is my third Firefighter Weekend living in downtown Colorado Springs, so when the bagpipes start echoing down Tejon Street and firefighters in kilts start showing up everywhere, I know exactly what is happening.
And I love it.
There are parts of the weekend that get incredibly quiet and somber, because the whole reason everyone is here is to honor firefighters who died in the line of duty. The IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial happens here in Colorado Springs every September, and this year’s 40th annual memorial is honoring 288 fallen members.
But the whole weekend isn’t sad.
Downtown fills up with firefighters and their families. There are pipes and drums everywhere. People are packed along Tejon Street. It feels like this huge reunion happening right in the middle of my neighborhood.
And you genuinely never know when you’re going to walk outside and see a firefighter in a kilt carrying a case of beer.
After three of these weekends, though, there was one thing I realized I had never actually stopped to figure out:
Why are all the firefighters wearing kilts?
Why Do Firefighters Wear Kilts?
Turns out, the answer goes way further back than Firefighter Weekend in Colorado Springs.
According to the IAFF’s history of its Pipe & Drum Band and Honor Guard, bagpipes became tied to American fire service funerals through Irish immigrant communities in the 1800s. Traditional Celtic funeral customs included bagpipes, and over time that tradition spread throughout the fire service.
The kilts and pipe-and-drum uniforms are part of that Celtic memorial tradition.
Which suddenly makes the entire downtown scene make a lot more sense.
Firefighter Weekend Is Both Somber and Really, Really Fun
This is the part I don’t think you fully understand until you spend the weekend downtown.
There are moments when the entire reason everyone is here hits you. The memorial itself is solemn. People pause. Families are remembering someone they lost. It can get incredibly quiet.
And then the rest of downtown is full of firefighters seeing people they haven’t seen in forever, pipe-and-drum groups marching through the streets, packed patios, music, and people celebrating the lives of the people they came here to honor.
It is one of my favorite weekends downtown because both things can be true at the same time.
And Jack Quinn’s Is Right in the Middle of It
The official IAFF agenda lists the Massed Pipes & Drums Band Parade at 8 p.m. Friday, starting at 21 S. Tejon Street.
That is Jack Quinn’s.
So this year I was sitting inside eating a spice bag while the parade was getting ready to take over Tejon Street outside.
I did, in fact, choke a little.
Still worth it.
And honestly, that is kind of the perfect Firefighter Weekend experience: you’re eating at the Irish pub, bagpipes are coming down the street, firefighters are everywhere, and somewhere in the middle of all of it you realize there is a whole history behind the kilts you’ve been seeing for years.
If you’re downtown during Firefighter Weekend, enjoy it. Be respectful when things get quiet. Cheer when the pipes and drums come through.
And keep an eye out for the firefighter carrying the case of beer.
