In Dublin, thousands reveled in the energy and excitement of the much-loved St Patrick’s Festival as a colorful parade animated the city streets to celebrate Ireland’s national day in a celebration of Irish Arts, Culture and Heritage.
St Patrick’s Day is celebrated all over the world by the 80 million who claim links to Ireland. Irish music and dance have become synonymous with celebrations to mark the day.
Every St Patrick’s Day, communities from Belfast to Cork on this national holiday showcase their Irish pride and celebrate the patron saint of Ireland through various events, bringing the world together to experience that famous Irish spirit.
In Dublin, the theme for the national St Patrick’s Festival is SPRÉACH or Spark in Irish, driven by values of joy, community, diversity and sustainability. The iconic parade featured more pageants, and more participants than ever before with half a million spectators lining this year’s route. The Parade encompassed 18 pageants and performance showpieces, 14 marching bands from across Ireland, North America and France and over 4,000 participants.
While the Dublin St Patrick’s Day parade is undoubtedly the biggest and most famous, there are parades and festivals in most cities on the island of Ireland.
Armagh, Belfast, Cork, Derry-Londonderry, Killarney, Waterford, Kilkenny, Enniskillen and Sligo staged St Patrick’s Festivals over the weekend. Highlights include a huge marching band jamboree in Limerick, where bands from the USA wow spectators; a music trail in the medieval city of Kilkenny; candle-light concerts in Killarney; an urban run in Belfast and a ‘Sunrise with St Patrick’ event in Armagh’s Home of St Patrick Festival, the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland and where St Patrick began his mission.
While St Patrick’s Day is the highlight of Ireland’s social calendar, bringing the whole island to life with parades, music and green at every turn, it is also the time when nature is coming to life across the island. Visitors can discover verdant, wildlife-rich landscapes dotted with cotton-white newborn lambs, walking festivals, beautiful gardens boasting floral collections, cozy pubs and fast-changing weather that brings rainbows galore! Catch them anywhere, from cities to coasts to wild mountain landscapes.
