15th Manchester Irish Festival, 5th – 21st March, 2010

The Manchester Irish festival celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.

Join the celebrations over two weeks in March 2010 when Manchester plays host to one of the worlds largest and most popular Irish Festivals. Festivities start in earnest with a Launch Night at Manchester Town Hall on Friday 5th March 2010.

The Manchester Irish Festival took place for the first time in 1996 and has grown to the amazing extravaganza it is today. The Irish Festival features two hundred events at more than 30 different venues across Greater Manchester.

Lawrence Hennigan, marketing executive of the Manchester Irish Festival website said………

“This years festival will feature two weeks of Art, Culture, Comedy, Community, Dance, Music, Sport and Theatre events, making it one of Europe’s biggest Irish Festivals. We have tried to include something for everyone to enjoy in the community and a warm Irish welcome awaits all our visitors.”

For many the highlight of the celebrations is the St Patricks Day Parade on Sunday 14th March. Last year the parade commenced at 12 noon at the Irish World Heritage Centre, 10 Queens Road, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, M8 8UF and then progressed down Cheetham Hill Road towards Manchester town centre, ending up, after a couple of hours in Manchester’s Albert Square.

In addition to the official Festival from the 5th to the 21st there are a variety of pre and post festival events from February through to April 2010. There is a detailed website for the whole of the festival at ManchesterIrishFestival.co.uk which has full details of all festival events.