Luck of the Irish Holds Out for Penn's Landing Festival
Published: Jun 26, 2008
By: Jeff Meade
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| Paul Moore of Paddy's Well. |
The weather forecast on Sunday, the day of the Penn's Landing Irish Festival, looked chancy. Early in the day, as Mass was celebrated for the first time at the Irish Famine Memorial a few blocks away, a sudden shower forced congregants at the open-air service to pop their umbrellas ... and for a group of middle-aged "altar boys" to hastily move a canopy over the altar.
Turns out, that was pretty much it. Though there were moments when the skies threatened to open up again and give us all a sampling of true Irish weather, mostly we got a sampling of Irish luck—from the moment Paul Moore and Paddy's Well hit the stage down on the Great Plaza along the Delaware to the big finale featuring Blackthorn.
"Not a drop," remarked organizer and Philadelphia St. Patrick's Day Parade Director Michael Bradley. "Rain slid just north, so bad that parts of I-95 in the city were closed, but we were blessed."
Like most of the festivals in the PECO Multicultural Series, the Irish fest offered up a wide-ranging display of music, dance, food and drink, and other aspects of this particular culture. Festival-goers do seem to be seriously drawn to the Paddy rock bands—and Philly has some of the very best of that breed—but for the first time, they also heard some of the unplugged traditional music in the form of the Pat the Budgie Ceili Band.
As always, just about every Irish dance school you could think of was on hand to perform between the musical acts—and, sometimes, during the musical acts, as Michael Bradley coaxed the Celtic Flame dancers up onto their feet to prance about as Paddy's Well played. (Not that Irish dancers ever need much coaxing.)
Vendors sold the usual shirts, hats and other tchochkes, volunteers painted many little faces, and the people selling beer and other liquid refreshments did land-office business on what turned out to be a hot, hot early summer Philly day.
If you couldn't be there, no worries. We were on hand to take lots and lots of photos.
The first Mass ever was celebrated at the Irish Memorial at Penns Landing before the festival began.
- View photo essay.
- View as slideshow.
Actually, Paddy's Well and
Actually, Paddy's Well and Blackthorn are real Philly bands. And we would have loved to see some of the other bands we've come to know and love, like the Bogside Rogues and Shantys. Don't forget that the people who organize these events do it as volunteers. If you want to help for next year's festival, contact the organizer. This year it was Michael Bradley, who also orchestrates the Philadelphia St. Patrick's Day Parade and we know from chatting with him how hard it was to pull this year's festival together, especially finding vendors in this economic climate.
D.F.
why do they always have to
why do they always have to change a good thing.
The local Irish Bands bring the crowds. Don't they know that from the past
and they are the bands that are their for the benefits and fundraisers
donating their time to entertain and loving it.
Irish festival stunk this
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