AFTER two celebrations of Ireland’s Patron Saint disrupted and diminished by the Covid-19 restrictions, the Glasgow St Patrick’s Festival is planning to be back at full strength this year, and the organising committee have issued a call for volunteers to help Glasgow’s Irish bounce back.
Subject to regulations, the 2022 festival is planned to take place at a variety of venues across Glasgow during the first two weeks of March, with its usual host of free and ticketed events. Irish literature, music, dance, film, language and history will all be celebrated during the annual cultural extravaganza.
Launched in 2008 to celebrate the Irish community and their cultural heritage in Glasgow and Scotland, the festival has grown to cover almost two weeks of events since then.
The festival is backed by a grant from the Irish Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Emigrant Support Programme and is run by a small team of volunteers, in particular from partner groups Conradh na Gaeilge Glaschú and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
The Festival Family Day has been the centrepiece of the festival for more than 10 years, and organisers hope that it will be possible for the special day to return on Saturday March 12, in the heart of the city. This free event, which is always filled with music and dance. Among the attractions for all the family will be bands, Irish dancers and traditional musicians, pipe band, with face-painting and balloons, stilt walkers, stalls from Tourism Ireland and more, under the cover of Glasgow’s Merchant Square, in an event which has become a highlight of the year for the Glasgow Irish community.
Evin Downey, co-chair of Glasgow St Patrick’s Festival (above), spoke about the planning of events, saying: “We are planning another lively programme of music, song, dance, film, and history for this year’s festival and, fingers crossed, we will be able to bring back, after last year’s purely online festival, the festival’s biggest event with the family day in the Merchant Square on Saturday, March 12, but we want to emphasise that there’s much more to the festival each year than that one event—as big as it is.
“It’s a small team that puts the festival together so we’re always looking for people to volunteer. So if you think you can help out at the Family Day or at any other event or on the social media side of things, or in any way really, please do get in touch. This is a celebration of and for the Irish community here. Bígí linn—beidh failte’s fiche romhat! Come join us for the craic—all welcome!”
If you think you can help and would like to get involved, contact the festival via: info@glasgowstpatricksfestival.co.uk
For up-to-date with festival news, head to: www.glasgowstpatricksfestival.co.uk and check out their Facebook and Twitter accounts
dan@theirishvoice.com
