Programme
Press release
Wednesday 17th February 2010
FRIDAY 12TH – WEDNESDAY 17TH MARCH 2010 www.stpatricksfestival.ie
St. Patrick’s Festival at its launch today, Wednesday 17th February put out the call to dust off those winter blues and get on-board our carousel of Festival fun to be found at this year’s fiesta, taking place from Friday 12th – Wednesday 17th March.
Celebrating its 15th year, St. Patrick’s Festival is not only an occasion for Irish people and tourists to mark our National holiday in March, but also returns an estimated €58.3 million to the Irish economy. Over one million people are expected to take part in Festival events over the six days and nights in celebration of our Irish-ness, so not only does St. Patrick’s Festival herald the Spring but its bring some much-needed free entertainment to our streets.
Friday evening (12th March) the Festival opens with a programme of film, comedy and visual arts for all, in various venues around the city. Wake up early on Saturday morning (13th March) and take to the streets of Dublin with all the other wannabe detectives taking part in the annual St. Patricks Festival Treasure Hunt – an energetic way for mind and body to explore and enjoy our Capital City. Saturday night (13th March) also plays host to the much-loved fireworks spectacular, The National Lottery Skyfest in Limerick City. Thousands of awesome fireworks will light up the skies over the majestic Treaty city of Limerick with over 50,000 people expected to come out for the fireworks and this exceptional night of entertainment.
For those taking a trip to Limerick, the city will be in celebration with its own Festival programme; featuring street theatre & carnival, markets and topped off with an International bands parade on Sunday 14th. This is the third time the event will have been staged outside of Dublin; Waterford in 2009 and Cashel in 2008.
Back in Dublin on Sunday (14th March), Big Day Out, a festival within a festival, opens on Merrion Square, featuring the cream of street theatre and performance in the heart of Georgian Dublin – a must for visitors and families alike, you never know what kind of characters you might find roaming around the historic square!
The Irish are world renowned for our ‘gift of the gab’, never shy in voicing an opinion or two and this year St. Patrick’s Festival offers two great platforms to exercise these talents! The Festival is staging two challenging symposiums: Youth Voices: ‘Irish Youth in a Borderless World’, in association with the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) taking place on Monday 15th March in The Ark, Temple Bar and then on Tuesday 16th March, Voices: An evening of BIG Ideas, what has Ireland done for the World?, is hosted by The Dubliner magazine as part of St. Patrick’s Festival in Tripod, Harcourt Street.
You can immerse yourself in Irish culture and craic throughout the Festival by joining in free Irish language and culture events, all as part of GaelSpraoi, the Irish language “beaganín” Festival - check out the Festival website www.stpatricksfestival.ie for locations and times.
Dublin’s Cultural Quarter Temple Bar will play host to an inspiring visual art trail, running throughout the Festival - “Shop If You Can, Look If You Want”. This exhibition will showcase the existing public art in the Temple Bar area and also platform innovative new Irish artists and their work as part of the festival. Curated in conjunction with The Temple Bar Cultural Trust this event is an opportunity of visitors and Dubliners alike to experience some of our finest urban artists as part of the Festival celebrations.
For the more adventurous, take to the streets and dance at the Festival Céilí on St. Patrick’s Eve (16th March). Crowds are expected to get “jiggy” on St. Stephen’s Green from 4.00pm so get the afternoon off work come out and “bust some Irish Ceilí moves”!
As the saying going “when you’re out, you’re out”, so keep the Festival fever going into St. Patrick’s Day and join us again as we roll out the green carpet on Wednesday 17th March for the world’s No. 1 St. Patrick’s Day Parade – a raucous 3km long street celebration. Get your “green” on and be part of the fun on the streets of Dublin for the number one St. Patricks Parade in the world. Thousands are anticipated to be cheering on the city streets and many millions more tuning in to the RTE 1 broadcast on TV and live streaming on-line. The Parade pageants are all joined on the day by marching bands from Ireland, the USA, Germany and Austria. Pageant companies coming from the four corners of the country; LUXe in Donegal, Spraoi in Waterford, Buí Bolg in Wexford and City Fusion in Dublin to name but a few, have been designing, building and choreographing their pieces in the last months in preparation for the big day on Wednesday 17th March.
The Festival finale on St. Patrick’s Night (17th March) is a performance by the cream of contemporary traditional music in Ireland today, Dónal Lunny in “A Celebration of Irish Voices” at the National Concert Hall and Kíla at the Olympia. “A Celebration of Irish Voices”, a premiere performance by renowned Irish traditional musician, Dónal Lunny promises to be a truly uplifting Irish traditional music experience in our National Concert Hall. Tickets are priced from €18/€25/€29/€35 and are available from www.nch.ie Tel: 01 417 0000.
Speaking at the 2010 St. Patrick’s Festival launch, Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism said: “Now in its 15th year, the St Patrick’s Festival provides us with the opportunity to enjoy the best contemporary celebration of Irish music, heritage, culture and community, and encompasses a feeling of what it means to be Irish - and on most continents to be ‘honorary Irish’ - for the day. St Patrick’s Festival 2010 is a spectacle of fun and entertainment culminating with the traditional St Patrick’s Day parade through our great capital city. This important national celebration is good for Ireland and particularly good for our tourism industry. The positive media coverage of the Festival is seen in our key international tourism markets at a time of the year when many people are planning annual holidays. One again this year, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland are planning to bring a significant number of overseas media to Ireland for the event.”
“This year the festival celebrates its 15th Anniversary and despite the tough economic climate, we are confident of presenting an exciting St. Patrick’s Festival in 2010 with events to appeal to Irish people and visitors alike. “Whether it’s going to the Parade on St. Patrick’s Day, watching the National Lottery Skyfest in Limerick, joining in the Festival Céilí, practising cupla-focal at Gaelspraoi, family-fun at Big Day Out, exploring Dublin-city on the Treasure Hunt or experiencing the very best in traditional Irish music with Dónal Lunny in The National Concert Hall, we believe we have something to suit all interests and ages. We are calling for everyone to find something for them in our programme and get on board the carousel of fun and most of all make St. Patrick’s Festival yours!” commented Susan Kirby, CEO St. Patrick’s Festival.
St. Patrick’s Festival attracts more than one million people to its events each year, including 50,000 overseas visitors, making it the ideal showcase for modern Ireland. The Festival each year is the best contemporary celebration of Irish music, heritage, culture and community and encompasses a feeling of what it means to be or just feel Irish!
Don’t miss your chance get on the Festival Carousel of fun and be part of the biggest and best celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, in Dublin over six days so the fun lasts even longer! The full St. Patrick’s Festival programme of events and activities can be found on www.stpatricksfestival.ie follow us on Twitter @stpatricksfest or be our friend on Facebook Patricks Fest.
You can also download the Festival App by texting PATSFEST to 51315* or visit The App Store for the free iPhone App* Cost of text is standard rate text (max 14 cent). Free iPhone Ap on iTunes App Store.