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Event Information:
Belfast St Patrick's Day
celebrations will offer a colourful
carnival atmosphere for all the
family to enjoy. The day will kick
off with a spectacular carnival
parade, led by the Lord Mayor of
Belfast, Councillor Pat Convery,
which will leave City Hall at 12
noon.
The
first Saint Patrick's Festival was
held on 17 March 1996. In 1997, it
became a three-day event, and by
2000 it was a four-day event. By
2006, the festival was five days
long; more than 675,000 people
attended the 2009 parade. Overall
2009's five day festival saw close
to 1 million visitors, who took part
in festivities that included
concerts, outdoor theatre
performances, and fireworks.
The
topic of the 2004 St. Patrick's
Symposium was "Talking Irish,"
during which the nature of Irish
identity, economic success, and the
future were discussed. Since 1996,
there has been a greater emphasis on
celebrating and projecting a fluid
and inclusive notion of "Irishness"
rather than an identity based around
traditional religious or ethnic
allegiance. The week around Saint
Patrick's Day usually involves Irish
language speakers using more Irish
during seachtain na Gaeilge ("Irish
Week").
As
well as Dublin and Belfast, many
other cities, towns, and villages in
Ireland hold their own parades and
festivals, including Cork, Belfast,
Derry, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick,
and Waterford.
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