Thursday, June 21, 2007

Road Trip

Speaking as we were of the glass being half full or half empty, on this first day of summer I'm reminded of my maternal grandfather, F.A. McCunniff, one of the great Irish pessimists. Every year on the first day of summer, he'd announce with a sigh to my mother and her siblings "Well, we're headin' into winter."

Though that's technically true I suppose, we've got a long summer ahead of us yet and with it a lot of great Irish festivals to attend. A partial list, with apologies to those events already held, is below. Hit the road this summer and check some of them out...before winter sets in.

• June 23 to 24-Connecticut Irish Festival-North Haven CT
• June 23 to 24-Great American Irish Fair-Encino CA
• July 13 to 15-Irish American Heritage Festival-Chicago IL
• July 14 to 15-Colorado Irish Festival-Littleton CO
• July 20 to 22-Cleveland's Irish Cultural Festival-Berea OH
• July 21-Adams County Irishtown Festival-New Oxford PA
• July 27 to 29-Great American Irish Festival-Utica NY
• July 28 to 30-Clover's Irish Weekend-Heckscherville PA
• Aug 4-Ballyshanners Irish Festival-Alexandria VA
• Aug 4 to 6-Dublin Irish Festival-Dublin OH
• Aug 5-Alaska Irish Music Festival -Anchorage AK
• Aug 10 to 12-Irish Fest La Crosse-La Crosse WI
• Aug 10-Irish Connections Festival-Canton MA
• Aug 10 to 12-Montana Irish Festival-Butte MT
• Aug 10 to 12-Irish Fair of Minnesota-Saint Paul MN
• Aug 16 to 19-Milwaukee Irish Fest-Milwaukee WI
• Aug 24 to 26-Buffalo Irish Festival-Buffalo NY
• Aug 31 to Sept 2-Do I really need to list this one?-K.C. MO
• Sept 7 to 8-Syracuse Irish Festival-Syracuse NY
• Sept 7 to 9-Pittsburgh Irish Festival-Pittsburgh PA
• Sept 7 to 9-Rochester Irish Festival-Irondequoit NY
• Sept 14 to 15-Irish 2000 Music and Arts Festival-Albany NY
• Sept 14 to 16-Michigan Irish Music Festival-Muskegon MI
• Sept 14 to 16-Indy Irish Fest-Indianapolis IN
• Sept 15-Irish Festival at the New Jersy Shore-Sea Girt NJ
• Sept 15 to 16-Irish Heritage Festival-Montgomery NY
• Sept 21 to 23-North Wildwood Irish Festival-Wildwood NJ
• Sept 21 to 22-Kalamazoo Irish Fest-Kalamazoo MI
• Sept 29-Jersey City Irish Fest-Jersey City NJ
• Oct 12 to 14-Weston Irish Fest-Weston MO
•Oct 27-Arizona Irish Festival-Phoenix AZ

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding me - there's an Irish Fest in Anchorage Alaska! Bet a cup of beer NEVER gets warm at that festival. Slurp.

Anonymous said...

Why do you suppose there are no Irish Festivals in Florida? Too sunny for our fair skinned people?

Anonymous said...

The Irish festivals in Florida happened earlier this year. Not being intrinsically thick, they schedule their fests when the weather is balmy and the tourists are in town.