Posts Tagged ‘ St Patrick’s Day Festival ’
As ever, Digbeth Residents Association was out to support yesterday’s St Patrick’s Day Parade! To see photos from the parade from DRA and other Tweeters, please see the story below.
If you’d like to join in next year’s festivities, please be sure to email contact@mydigbeth.co.uk, and we’ll ensure to keep you updated!
The parade will be coming through Digbeth from 12:00 noon. Make sure to arrive early and grab a good spot to watch the whole procession, and keep your eyes peeled for Digbeth Residents Association!
Despite the signs, Digbeth is not closed, but number of road closures are in place due to the Parade, so please plan your journey carefully.
MT @paulineroche: Still 1 of my all-time fav street signs “#Digbeth closed” 4 #Birmingham #StPatricksDayParade twitter.com/paulineroche/s…
— Digbeth Residents (@mydigbeth) March 8, 2013
Digbeth Residents Association hope to tweet live from the Parade route as last year; for updates, make sure to follow DRA and the hashtag #stpatricksbrum. If you want to join in, come along to the start of the Parade route before 12:00 noon at Camp Hill and find the DRA banner!
When: Thursday 21 March, 18:30-20:00
Where: Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (AV Room, Gas Hall)
Tickets: £4 per person (advance booking required)
With the St Patrick’s Festival in full swing, and the Parade taking place in Digbeth this coming Sunday, the Irish in Birmingham are in particular focus this week.
To celebrate and mark St Patrick’s Day, popular Birmingham historian Dr Chris Upton will present a talk on The Sons and Daughters of Erin at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery next Thursday.
Book your tickets through the box office (0121 303 1966) or at www.bmag.org.uk. As this talk takes place outside of public opening hours, access will be from the Gas Hall and the adjacent lift entrance.
For more information, please email Julia Kirby or Louise Alden.
Image: Birmingham Mail
It’s Friday, which means only one thing: the weekend is near. And this weekend is unlike any other in the year, as it’s when Birmingham comes together and descends on Digbeth to celebrate all things Irish with the St Patrick’s Festival and Parade!
This year promises to be extra special as it falls on St Patrick’s Day itself. Selfridges will be shining green when Sunday’s festivities start at 11:30, with Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s Community Choir taking to the balcony of the store to sing traditional Irish songs. Next, more than 85,000 people are expected line the streets of Digbeth for the Parade, which starts at midday.
While the event promotes Irish community, sports, music and dance groups, the Parade also features representatives from all ethnicities around the world, celebrating the diversity of Birmingham as a multi-cultural city. The St Patrick’s Day Festival is, at its core, a family-friendly event. This year, the organisers will be providing more activities throughout the day to promote the family feel of the day.
Digbeth Residents Association welcomes everyone to come to Digbeth and celebrate St Patrick’s Day in the part of the city we get to call home. If this means frequenting one of our many pubs, then find a spot and get comfortable! West Midlands Police will be posting two officers outside each establishment as a precautionary measure, and from 16:00-18:00 traffic in and out of these venues will be restricted.
If you’d like to join the Parade with DRA, find us holding our banner near the start of the Parade route at Camp Hill before midday on Sunday! Come to Digbeth and be merry, but we ask visitors to be mindful of residents, and appreciate your consideration by keeping litter and noise after 11pm to a minimum please.
For more information about the festival, visit the website here.
Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona Duit!
When: Saturday 9th March 2013, 20:00 onwards
Where: The Paragon Hotel, Alcester Street Digbeth
Tickets: £5
The St Patrick’s Festival 2013 is sure to start with a bang at the launch party sponsored by the Paragon Hotel.
Tickets are only £5 including a buffet meal and live music to dance away the evening. Bargain!
To book your tickets, please contact Anne by email or phone 07887 870 919 before the 2nd March.
When: Saturday 23rd February, 12:00-16:00
Where: 22 Green Street, Digbeth (opposite the Peugeot garage car park)
The St Patrick’s Day Festival will return to Digbeth very soon! In preparation, the festival organisers have organised float workshops to help inspire the creations participating in the parade:
For anyone entering this years St Patrick’s Parade why not come along this Saturday Feb 23rd at midday to our next float workshop?
Hosted by Gary Jones, this is an exceptional way to create a great visual impact at ridiculously low cost. Gary makes it so simple that you do not need a creative bone in your body – just a willingness to give up a bit of time and learn how to work a pair of scissors.
If you are unsure how it could help you, or if it could help you at all, call us first on 07919 563 195.
Kind regards,
St Patrick’s Organising Committee
DRA is looking forward to seeing the fabulous creations in this year’s parade – get ready to get your float on!
The Bay Leaf Restaurant in the Custard Factory celebrates its first anniversary this month!
In their first year, Bay Leaf have supported local causes, including Birmingham Friends of the Earth, Digbeth Residents Association, and have engaged with the community by hosting live music in their café area, along with offering a Guinness Balti during the St Patrick’s Festival.
To celebrate their birthday, Bay Leaf are offering three course meals for £9.95 (Sunday to Thursday, further information below) along with an early bird discount of 25% on all food and drink between 5pm and 7pm daily.
Everyone at DRA wishes owner Aftab and the team many happy returns! Here’s hoping it is the first of many anniversaries to come.
Three Course Offer at Bay Leaf
After I reported the Birmingham St Patrick’s Parade was in jeopardy, the local media showed interest in the story and DRA’s Chairperson, Val Wooodward, appeared on BBC WM Radio as a result.
Here, John McMahon of Birmingham’s premier Irish magazine, An Craic, has very kindly written an article for us to bring us up to date with what happened at the EGM recently:
Having successfully arranged the previous two Festivals, the St Patrick’s board have now passed on the torch to new directors – synching with the torch bearing tradition of this the Olympic year. Not surprising then that the main focus for the parade on Sunday March 11 is Irish Sport, and it is with great pleasure that the leading lights of Irish sports men and women based in Birmingham have been asked to be this year’s flag bearers. If you’re a sportsperson with Irish connections – get in touch – for yourself, your sport or your team. We’d love your support at this years parade.
Preparations are well underway to continue the great tradition of the Birmingham St Patrick’s Parade and its supporting fringe events. The civic reception and launch this year will be at The Irish Centre on Friday March 9th. Set your clocks though to be bright and early at the main event – The Parade – Sunday March 11 at twelve noon. As ever the principal feature and focus is The Birmingham Irish and its surrounding communities – blending the traditional with the contemporary: floats and walking groups from the counties, traditional marching bands, GAA groups, dancing schools and the general weird and whacky of Parade day. ‘St PatRocks’ will continue the custom started several years ago of showcasing more contemporary local Irish bands whose members have Irish roots – this will be hosted at the HMV institute.
As with previous years anyone heading to Digbeth on parade day will be submersed in a sea of green and overwhelmed by the infectious sense of such a good natured and joyous occasion. Marvel at the parade – and then enjoy the Craic in many of Digbeth’s finest hostelries – many of which remain resolutely Irish in their devotion. Other fringe events leading up to St Patrick’s Day itself include an Irish Film night, Art installation, Race night, Irish Ale night, Irish literary event and Irish music nights.
We need You. As ever being a voluntary organisation we really do count on the support of individuals – so whether you can volunteer as a steward, are keen to enter a float or walk in the parade, are prepared to help raise sponsorship for us – do contact us. And if everyone can remember to throw a pound into the collection boxes – you will be doing your community proud.
St Patrick’s Festival 2012 starts with the civic reception and launch night on Friday 9th March at The Irish Centre. For tickets and details of the launch, parade and all St Patricks’ events – visit the website at stpatricksbirmingham.com.
Thanks John!