St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival 2010
Make St Patrick’s Day 2010 one to remember by becoming part of the fun-filled celebrations in the historic walled city. With parades, concerts, dancing and more activities than you could shake your shamrock at, our St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival has something for visitors of all ages.
The highlight of a week-long programme of festivities will of course come on Wednesday March 17, St Patrick’s Day itself.
The showpiece will again be the Carnival Parade, which this year will be on the theme of ‘Springtime in Wonderland’. The parade commences at 2.30pm and offers the opportunity to celebrate with the colourful Samba and Marching Bands and marvel at the array of large-scale props including a depiction of the Alice in Wonderland story produced by Greater Shantallow Community Arts.
By the time the parade gets underway the celebrations will already be well underway with Victoria Car Park turned into a family-friendly, alcohol-free zone with non-stop music, dance and carnival fun from 1.00pm
The entertainment commences with a traditional music performance from Comhaltas Ceotoiri Eireann Traditional Irish Group featuring the city’s finest young musicians. The ‘trad’ theme continues at 2.00 pm with a performance from local Irish dancing schools before legendary Irish and Country recording star Susan McCann and her band take to the take the stage from 2.15 to 4.00 pm.
The celebrations continue with a performance from Harmonicity, a 16-piece Multicultural Musical Group who will bring the event to a close when they play from 4pm to 4.30pm.
However the St Patrick’s Day celebrations are just the crescendo of a programme of events that run from Thursday, March 11th through to Thursday, March 18th.
Throughout that week a series of events are taking place at Culturlann Ui Chanain on Great James’s; with Irish Language quizzes, family days and traditional music nights. There will also be an Irish language Information Day at Derry City Council offices on Tuesday March 16th.
That same day will see the Shared City project running a celebration of Irish culture at the Old Clondermot High School.
And on the afternoons of Tuesday and Wednesday, March 16th-17th, from 1 – 5 pm, the Tower Museum will celebrate the Spring Carnival with activities for all including arts and crafts and storytelling. Look out for the Celtic heroes and heroines who will be guiding you through the streets to the tower museum with their tales of myth and magic.
So with a packed programme of music, dance and parades spend an afternoon of celebration in Derry and make your St Patrick’s Day one to remember.
