No. 244

Paddy's Day Set To Go Global

St Patrick’s Festival this year will be marked by a host of events abroad as well as at home.

Special festivities will be held in Moscow, Beijing, London, New York and Paris to commemorate St Patrick's Day with parades as well as other musical and cultural events.

Minister for the Arts Jimmy Deenihan has launched the worldwide programme of events, aiming to promote Irish culture abroad. “This time of year, when there is a global focus on all things Irish, offers a real opportunity to highlight our creative talent and our artistic reputation on the world stage,” said Mr Deenihan.

Tourism Ireland announced yesterday that the Leaning Tower of Pisa will be among a number of other well-known sites that will be turning green for St Patrick's Day. Niagara Falls, the London Eye, Burj al Arab in Dubai and Table Mountain in South Africa would all be illuminated green as part of the international spectacle on March 17th.

San Francisco’s Coit Tower and City Hall, Selfridges department store in London, the Cibeles fountain in Madrid, Vienna’s Burgtheater, the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, and Moraira, a town on the Costa Blanca in Spain, have also come onboard.

In addition, Brussels Town Hall, the Glasgow Eye and the Clyde Auditorium - affectionately known as “the Armadillo” in Glasgow - will also turn green for the day on Saturday.

For those in Ireland, there’s no need to upend your wallet for good craic this weekend; the country is abuzz with free events to celebrate St. Patrick’s Festival.

The festival will see a slew of events kicking off on Friday, March 15th and running through Monday, March 19th. Dublin’s festival has grown so large that it now takes 18 months to plan the four day celebration of Irish culture.

Read more |  Irish Times, 08.02.12

Download the MITN iPhone app
Add us on Facebook
Made in the Now Three Sixty Five