Press Release

Celebrating diversity this St Patrick’s Day

Monday, 03 March 2008

As part of the city’s St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival celebrations, the Holywell Trust, in association with Derry City Council, has taken an alternative approach to the St Patrick’s Day celebrations by organising a colourful and varied concert of traditional and world music entitled ‘ Celebrating our Diversecity’.

The event will take place at St Columb’s Hall on Saturday 15th March at 8.00pm and is part of the Bank Holiday weekend’s festivities for St Patrick’s Day.

Speaking ahead of the event. Mayor Alderman Drew Thompson said the event was an excellent way of acknowledging the city’s diversity. “The influx of many ethnic minorities to our city has helped us realise that cultural diversity is something to be embraced, respected and celebrated. The idea of having a celebratory concert for St Patrick’s Day which acknowledges everyone in the community and invites all musical traditions to join in the festivities is inspirational and something really worth celebrating.”

The concert will showcase a range of musical traditions with artists from Zimbabwe, Slovakia and Iran performing alongside talented local performers. The Motion Project, Aileach Folk the Legends and Different Drums are all highly acclaimed in their own right, promising to make this a spectacular evening a must-hear for fans of traditional and world music alike.

Eamonn Deane, Director of the Holywell Trust said: “ We are proud to present this celebration of music that reflects the many cultures and sounds of our increasingly diverse society.”

Doors open at 7.30pm for the 8pm show and tickets can be purchased for £10 from either the Holywell Trust telephone 028 7126 1941 or the box office at St Columb’s Hall, telephone 028 7126 8027.

This year’s St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival offers a packed progamme of events aimed at appealing to all ages with musical entertainment with the Shenanigans in the City and the headline performance by Bagatelle. The Guildhall Square and surrounding area will be transformed into a family friendly, alcohol free zone featuring a wonderful exhibition of music, dance and colour from 1 - 5pm. Included in the entertainment for the day will be the St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival Parade organised by the North West Carnival Initiative, which promises to be as magical as ever with the theme of ‘Cultural Myths and Legends’.

Programmes for the 2008 Spring Carnival are available from the Derry City Council Offices, the Tourist Information Centre on Foyle Street and at Cultural venues throughout the city. For more information contact the event line on (028) 7137 6545 or click on to www.derrycity.gov.uk/stpatricksday

The 2008 Spring Carnival is organised by Derry City Council with contributions from local cultural organisations and additional support from the Business and Cultural Animation programme which has been partly financed by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board through funding provided by the International Fund for Ireland and Ilex through the Integrated Development Fund.

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