CELEBRATING 21 YEARS: DUBLIN SET FOR FOUR DAY ST. PATRICK’S FESTIVAL EXTRAVAGANZA

The St. Patrick’s Festival is set to showcase all that is great about Ireland through a diverse and eclectic programme that will see 1.6 million people take part in the 2016 festivities.

This year will see the streets of Dublin come to life with spectacular pageantry and performance as a carnival spirit takes over under the 2016 theme of Imagine If.

The main Festival Parade on March 17 will see Ireland’s leading pageant companies take to the streets joined by bands from the USA, Brittany and Ireland who will deliver uplifting scores and inspiring rhythms in a spectacular procession through the heart of Dublin city.

The ever popular cultural programme, I Love My City, returns to the 2016 festival. The series of engaging, evocative and intimate cultural events and happenings that have been curated by the Festival will be staged in some of Dublin’s most beautiful, historic and prestigious cultural venues and spaces.

 Headline events, featuring established and emerging Irish and international artists, from a variety of disciplines, including literature, music, film, spoken word, design, visual art and more, will be presented throughout the festival.

Visitors are also invited to get their dancing shoes on and join the Festival Céilí taking place on Friday 18th. Dance into the night at Ireland’s largest outdoor celebration of traditional Irish dancing or join '60s legend, icon, poet and renowned singer-songwriter, Donovan for a celebratory evening at the spectacular National Concert Hall on Saturday night.

A packed programme also includes the Festival Treasure Hunt on Saturday 19th March,  As well as the Festival Big Day Out at the heart of Georgian Dublin with Merrion Square providing a stunning setting for this day-long street carnival on Sunday 20th.

Partner events around Dublin this year include the Dublin Bay Prawn Festival, taking place from Friday 18th – Sunday 20th. Enjoy the many tastes Howth has to offer in one of its many award winning restaurants which will be serving delicious prawn dishes in bite sized portions at the food village. In addition the food village will have a local market, local food, fish filleting and fishery skills, demos and a programme of family fun activities to offer.

St. Patrick’s Festival will take place this year from 17th - 20th March. For details on the programme log on to www.stpatricksfestival.ie, download the app, or join the Festival’s official Facebook and follow on Twitter.