St Patrick’s Festival is back on the streets of Dublin

After a two-year pause due to COVID-19, the city is ready for one of the biggest celebrations of Irish culture to date

After a two-year hiatus, the St Patrick Festival and Parade are coming back in Dublin and according to the organisers, it will be the largest and most ambitious celebration of Irish culture and heritage to date. CONNECTIONS/NAISC is the theme of this year’s festival and it is supposed to offer a moment of relief and connection to both the Irish in Ireland and to the more than 80 million people in the diaspora.

A much-missed international flavour back on the streets of Dublin

The last time there was a St Patrick’s Festival was in 2019, and this year it seems like organisers are going all out to compensate for missed time. The iconic St Patrick’s Parade will also return to Dublin and this year it should have more participants than ever.

The parade, traditionally, includes delegations from Irish communities across the world, celebrating a mixture of Irishness and international culture.

The festival will be a massive day-to-night event taking place from 16 to 20 March and it will span multiple locations in the city, including the Festival Quarter, National Museum of Ireland and the Collins Barracks.

It also offers an impressive line-up of Irish artists, performers and musicians, as well as exhibitions celebrating contemporary artists or aspects of Irish culture.

Anna McGowan, Interim Director of St. Patrick’s Festival said that the very best of Ireland’s creative community has come together to produce the five magical days and nights of celebration. She continued: “We can’t wait to welcome Ireland and the World back to Dublin.”

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alison Gilliland also commented on the announcement, saying: “After an absence of two years, it’s wonderful to see the return of St. Patrick’s Festival with in-person events and the parade through our Capital’s streets which will include a much-missed international flavour.”