Milwaukee Irish Fest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Milwaukee Irish Fest (locally known as Irish Fest) is a yearly ethnic festival held at the Henry Maier Festival Park, on the Lake Michigan lakefront. Started in 1981, the fest traditionally runs on the third weekend in August. Irish Fest is the largest celebration of Irish music and culture in the world and is the largest of the ethnic festivals held at the Summerfest grounds, which report attendance. [1]
Festival highlights include fireworks on Sunday night, music from over 100 bands from around the world, sung in English, Irish, and even French (Canadian dialect), a stage for Céilí dancing, an area to learn Céilí dancing, celebrations of Irish sport and culture, and the Liturgy for Peace and Justice held in the Marcus Amphitheater on Sunday morning. The annual closing event is the Scattering, a gathering of the best festival musicians playing together in one combined session, with fifty or more musicians on the stage at one time not uncommon.
Irish Fest celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2005. During that year's fest the new Celtic Roots stage was added. In addition, the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, attended the fair.
