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For an entire week each year, the pride of the Irish in Canada takes hold of Vancouver. The city opens its streets and invites everyone to celebrate and enjoy CelticFest on the coast of the Pacific Northwest. So put on your dancing shoes and prepare to paint the city green!
An annual event, CelticFest Vancouver celebrates everything Celtic and Irish in Vancouver. The event is held from 10th-17th March and includes concerts, whiskey tastings, Irish theatre, street parties and a festive parade. For this year’s festival, there will be a colourful Sunday parade as well as a Celtic Village. Revellers can also look forward to a performance by the legendary Irish Rovers and a pre-festival concert by Irish folk music legend, Damien Dempsey.
Much of the event will centre on the Bagpipers’ Celtic Village – set up between Robson Street and Nelson Street along Granville Street near the Vancouver Art Gallery. The village offers plenty of activities including live music, dancing, food vendors and other street market stalls and things to see. The entire event is perfect for visitors heading to Canada on holiday.
Vancouver’s famous St. Patrick’s Day parade will take place on Sunday 13th March this year along Howe Street, ending at the corner of Georgia and Granville.
If you’re arriving early, Dempsey will appear in a pre-festival performance at the Imperial on 5th March. You also have the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir and performances by the De Danaan Irish Dancers, Piper Tim Fanning and the band Ballyhooley to look forward to. Don’t miss out on seeing Moll too– a play by award-winning Irish playwright John B. Keane. It runs from March 10th to 16th.
The CelticFest entertainment culminates with a concert by The Irish Rovers – the world-famous Irish Band who will perform at the Vogue Theatre on St Patrick’s Day.
“We’re looking forward to an amazing festival”, said Executive Festival Producer, John Coughlan in announcing this year’s events. “We welcome folks from all across the region and beyond to join us in an exciting celebration of traditional and contemporary Celtic culture, from great concerts and performances to special events and, of course, the wildly popular Celtic Village and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.”
For more information, take a look at the official CelticFest Vancouver website.
Image Credit: Taylor (flickr.com)
