St. Patrick’s Day Dublin 2016

What’s on St Patricks Day Dublin 2016?

The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade on 17th March begins a four day festival of celebration in dance, music and storytelling as well as the usual partying and revelry. The parade seems to get bigger and better every year and 2016 promises to see a spectacular parade. Because of the fact that it is the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising ,the birth of the Irish state is bound to feature as a theme of the parade.
Although this is a year of looking back, the official theme of this year’s parade is ‘Imagine If’, which will feature bands, groups and companies putting on performances inspired by a vision of the future as they wend their way through the city to the delight of the crowds lining the streets.

Other Events on St Patricks Day Dublin

There are numerous other events taking place on St. Patrick’s Day and the following days of the festival.
On Thursday 17 March at Teelings Distillery, New Market Square, Dublin 8, The Moth StorySlam takes place.This is part of the I Love My City programme and it involves an open mic storytelling competition where storytellers are selected at random to tell a story on the theme of the night.
Also on the same day there is a ‘See Dublin by Bike: Easter Rising Cycle Tour’ at 2:00 PM. This is a guided tour of some the main sites of the 1916 Rebellion including  the GPO, Moore Street, Boland’s Mills, Jacob’s Factory and Dublin Castle.

In the Footsteps of St. Patrick-Walking Tour 2:15 PM, 17th March.
The annual St Patrick’s Walk is led by historian and author Pat Liddy who has been organizing historical walks in Dublin for many years.  Discover the truth about St. Patrick and the Dublin of his time. The tour starts at the corner of Suffolk & Andrew Street and ends with a visit in St Patrick’s Cathedral.

The Children’s Soapbox where children explore their vision of  Ireland using speech, stories and poetry is on Friday, 18 March at The Ark Children’s Cultural Centre. Tickets are free.
Also on Friday 18th March is the Festival Céilí. There are also numerous free music events at various venues including St. Annes Church (NEWSOME HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR), Powerscourt (THE TRINITONES), Barnardo’s Square (BAGAD DE VANNES MELINERION), National Gallery (THE BQ TRIO).

On Sunday 20th March the Festival Big Day Out is on in Merrion Square. This street carnival will have open-air shows, music, fun, arts and craft and more fun and celebration.

Watch out also for the Festival Treasure Hunt, Street Theatre, Older Than Ireland (Film) and Funfairs at Merrion Square and Custom House Quay.