Wednesday 17 March 2010 will see Irish people across the world celebrating the honour of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Everyone loves the traditional celebrations that of St Patrick's Day celebrating all things Irish, with laughter, fun and, of course, Guinness! Rather than throwing your own party we’ve got the lowdown on some great free events going on; the perfect excuse to party!
If you like to be at the heart of celebrations you’d be mad to miss St Patrick’s Festival hosted by Dublin, the capital of Republic of Ireland.
The grand finale of a week of celebrations is the St Patrick’s Festival Parade in Dublin city centre, starting at Parnell Square at midday. With the Parade theme in 2010 being ‘Extraordinary World’, the festival Parade features newly commissioned, highly original and inventive street theatre troupes, artists, giant puppetry, dancers and marching bands from Ireland and across the globe. You can join thousands of others cheering on the city streets to soak up the atmosphere without spending a euro!
If art is more your thing then head down to Dublin’s Cultural Quarter, where Temple Bar will play host to an inspiring visual art trail “Shop If You Can Look If You Want”. This exhibition will showcase some of the interesting existing public art, spaces and places in the Temple Bar area and also present twenty one Irish and international artists and their work, all for free.
It’s not just Ireland who will be throwing a party on 17 March this year; there are parades and events throughout the United Kingdom. If you don’t have chance to venture to Dublin next week but still want to soak up the St Patrick’s Day atmosphere for free, then head to London for their exciting St Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday 14 March starting at midday in Piccadilly. The St Patrick's Day Parade involves marching bands, floats, street theatre and more. All 32 Irish counties are represented, dressed in their traditional county colours, as well as London's Irish community and other Londoners.
As well as the parade, you can see the best of Irish music, dance and culture in Trafalgar Square at the St Patrick's Day Festival on 14 March. This fun, family day out starts at 11.30am and finishes at 6pm with highlights including Children's Culture Corner with storytelling, animation and poetry, Traditional Irish ceili dancing and celebrity MCs.
If you can’t make it this weekend then you can always Head to Brent for a St Patricks' Day parade on the day itself, as well as storytelling, music and Irish dancing. Visit Brent Council
for more details.
If you live up North then head over the City of Manchester, they are hosting their annual Irish Festival http://www.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk/ from Friday 5th March - Sunday 21st March 2010, complete with the UK’s biggest St Patrick’s Day Parade. The Parade is made up of marching bands, traditional Irish Dancing groups, County Associations, specially decorated floats, Vintage Tractors and Vintage vehicles, GAA Gaelic Football and Hurling Teams, traditional Irish Music groups, the Rose of Tralee beauty competition finalists and the occasional Donkey!
To find out more about the Manchester Irish Festival visit http://www.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk/. Alternatively if you’re happy to spend St Patrick’s Day at home watching Riverdance then nip over to Tesco They have a special offer on Guinness Draught with 18 x 440ml cans for £15 rather than the usual £22.59.
Enjoy!
