Irish 2000 Music and Arts Festival

So it's time for Irish 2000 Music and Arts Festival again. This will be my fourth Irish Festival of the summer, and yes it's still the summer. Friday night September 16, 2011 and all day and into the night on Saturday September 17, 2011, the Saratoga County Fairgrounds will be green with Irish. The Summer Festival season started on Memorial Day weekend in East Durham. The high lite of the Festival was the return of The Whole Shebang. 

As you can tell from the video the crowd loved the show. There are about three things that make for a good Irish Festival and no, drinking is not one of them, it's all three. No, really, the things that make a Festival are good music, good friends and a good selection of food and venders. The East Durham Festival had all three. Besides the Whole Shebang they had Celtic Cross, Shilelagh Law, Black 47 and East Durham favorites, The Andy Cooney Band and the Kitty Kelly Band. The friends that were there were numerous but I must point out that Chris and Amy, Sheila, Trish, Michele, Tom, the immortal Billy Flynn and my text partner Maura all played a part in making East Durham a great Festival.

At the end of July I headed out to Herkimer for the Great American Irish Festival. I went out on Friday night with the Fighting 86's. I came home late Friday night and went to my 35 high school reunion on Saturday afternoon before heading back out to Herkimer. The bands at the Great American included, 

 

The High Kings, Barleyjuice, Seven Nations and Hair of the Dog and Enter the Haggis. The usual group of Festival goers made the trip as well as NYS AOH President Mike McNabb and family. This past weekend I was in Syracuse for the Syracuse Irish Festival. This is set up a bit different. Instead of at a fairgrounds they take over downtown Syracuse and turn the Syracuse Orange to green. 

The Fighting 86's showed that they were too large to play the traditional stage as they packed the street with fans, dancing and singing along. The other bands were Goitse, The Glengarry Bhoys, The Elders and The Causeway Giants. I spent time with some Syracuse Hibernian Brothers and again a good time was had by all. Now we are halfway to St. Patrick's Day and the Festival is in our own back yard. I2K opens at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds Friday night with a line up of, Seven Nations, Gaelic Storm and Enter the Haggis. On Saturday the great music continues with, Shilelagh Law, Celtic Cross, Screaming Orphans and Black 47. Check out the website for a complete listing at http://irish2000fest.com/ One change this year. In the past they have had a "pub" stage where the local bands play. This year they have renamed it, The Patricia McSweeney Memorial  Pub Stage. Pat was a founding member and a force behind the success of the Irish 2000 Festival. The Festival sometimes doesn't feel the same without Pat but usually at some point you know that she is there.

So I am looking forward to this weekend and I hope you can come out and join in the fun,whether it's your fifth Irish Festival of the year or your first, you are going to have a good time.