St Patrick's Day Festival

Wednesday, 9th February 2011

Plans underway for this year's St Patrick's Day Festival

Plans are already well underway for this year's St Patrick's Day Festival. The theme of this year's parade is 'Waterford of the three shippes' which celebrates Waterford City's great maritime history and the return of the Tall Ships Race to the City in the summer.

This year is already lining up to be a very entertaining parade. Spraoi, in addition to building their own spectacular entry, have been running workshops sponsored by Waterford City Council for a number of local community groups to help them in preparing their entry. Projects from the Sacred Heart, Inner City, Ferrybank and Larchville Lisduggan are already half way through the four day course which is designed to encourage greater community participation and also to give community workers access to the creative skills of Spraoi.

Also entertaining the crowds on the day will be Fad?, the Ballybricken based heritage and arts project, who will be telling the story of the invasions of Waterford through the ages with the help of their time machine.

Leading the parade this year will be the City of Waterford Brass. This is also an important year for the band with one of their members, Michael Quinlan, celebrating his 50th anniversary with the band.

The Advisory Committee who organise the parade, which is chaired by the Mayor Councillor Mary Roche, are also planning on keeping up the great tradition of celebrating local people's contribution to the City and will be announcing this year's Grand Marshall in the coming weeks. Also on the Committee are Billy McCarthy (WLRfm), Kieran Walsh (The Munster Express), TV Honan (Spraoi) and Anne Marie Caulfield (Waterford Chamber).

As has been the tradition over the last number of years there will also be entertainment after the Parade in John Roberts Square. In addition to the delicious delights of the Waterford City Market a number of bands will also keep the crowds entertained. Check out the St Patricks Day Parade new Facebook page for up to the minute information on the parade.

For those who might be interested in participating in the parade, application forms are available online at www.waterfordcity.ie or contact Jane on 051 849905.