Details of the national St Patrick’s Festival were officially announced in Dublin this evening by Minister for Arts and Tourism Martin Cullen.
This year's festival runs from March 12th-17th, and over the six days 4,000 performers and a million people are expected to participate in music, street theatre, carnivals, comedy, street performances and treasure hunts. The festival will culminate with the St Patrick’s Day parade on March 17th, whose theme this year is “Sky’s the limit!”
To celebrate the GAA’s 125th anniversary celebrations, a specially commissioned GAA pageant, entitled "Monumental Moments", will lead the parade this year. Festival parade producers and artist Francis Morgan have devised a representation of all the GAA has been to the people for the past 125 years.
The National Lottery Skyfest will be held in Waterford this year. Skyfest, which was a triumph last year in Cashel, is set to bring the city alive with fireworks over the River Suir, accompanied by music and other street entertainment.
The Denny Treasure Hunt and Denny Big Day Out at Merrion Square will be back this year and a new event, The Spheres @ Docklands, is set to be a particular draw. Presented by Strange Fruit, a Melbourne-based company,
The Spheres fuses theatre, dance and circus and sees seven performers on giant illuminated spheres perched on top of four-metre high flexible poles. There are two performances scheduled each night on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th March at 6.30pm and 8.00pm.
Speaking in the OPW Headquarters, St Stephen’s Green this evening, Mr Cullen said: “St Patrick’s Day is a key day in the Irish calendar and is an opportunity for Ireland to showcase her heritage, culture and identity.
"To mark our National Holiday, St Patrick’s Festival 2009, held over six days, will be a spectacle of colour and entertainment, culminating in the traditional St Patrick’s Day Parade with its pageants and marching bands through the capital city.”
The Minister said festivals were an important component of the tourism product. "They provide opportunities to showcase culture, people and places, greatly improve the visitor experience of Ireland and are essential in improving the distribution of tourism revenue around the country."
According to the Department of Arts, Sports, and Tourism, research done in in 2005 estimated the economic impact of the St Patrick’s Festival in Dublin at just over €58 million.