Time for a green party!
Sparks will fly at over 500 parades nationwide
MORE than 500 St Patrick’s Day parades and celebrations will take place across the country this weekend, along with a world-record attempt for the largest céilí band performance.
There will be sporting action from the Six Nations and the Allianz League, while the Dancing With The Stars finale on RTÉ will feature a performance from Riverdance.
Organisers in Dublin have promised the annual parade will be the ‘centre of the world on St Patrick’s Day – a bucketlist-worthy adventure’.
Half a million spectators will gather to witness over 4,000 parade participants, including marching bands from all across the globe in a colourful display of music and pageantry, extravagantly dressed performers, troupes of dancers and a spectacular display of floats. Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty is this year’s Grand Marshal, and the theme will be Spréach, the Irish word for Spark, which is said to represent the unique ‘life force’ of Ireland and the Irish people.
The parade kicks off at 12 noon, starting at Parnell Square North before moving down O’Connell Street and crossing the River Liffey.
Dublin’s celebrations also include Féile na Gealaí, Ireland’s only Irish-language contemporary music and arts festival, along with a celebration for all ages hosted by Cúla 4 presenter Seosamh Mac Seoin, with music, games, face painting and magic. The festival programme is online at stpatricksfestival.ie.
Patrick Kielty was busy on the Late Late Show last night, hosting a world-record attempt for the largest céilí band performance.
Ahead of the show, he said: ‘St Patrick’s Day is all about craic agus ceol and we can’t wait to bring together the biggest ever céilí band to raise the roof, raise a glass and hopefully break a world record tonight.’
In Cork city, the St Patrick’s Day parade will begin at Parnell Bridge/South Mall at 1pm tomorrow.
Galway’s St Patrick’s Day parade tomorrow promises to be its largest ever. Starting at 11.30am it runs through the city centre for over an hour.
The theme for the parade this year is Olympics 2024 and up to 3,000 people will be taking part in the spectacle.
Limerick’s St Patrick’s Day parade will start at 12pm and march down Henry Street, while the Limerick International Band Championship takes place on Monday.