A street party for 500,000 will lift gloom
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Tomorrow's annual St Patrick's Day parade will feature around 2,000 performers.
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The St Patrick's Festival finale will kick off tomorrow, with organisers promising that the parade will be an antidote to recession gloom.
The theme of the festivities this year is 'The Sky is the Limit' and Tuesday's parade leaves Parnell Square North at noon. The ragtag troupe will make its noisy, colourful way up O'Connell Street and will cross the Liffey in expected bright and dry weather.
For more than two hours, Irish street theatre companies, ceremonial groups and international marching bands will weave their way through the city centre.
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Organisers say that the lure of free entertainment will draw an anticipated 500,000 people to the spectacle.
And although participant numbers are down on last year, there hasn't been a single cancellation in the attendees. More than 2,000 performers, 901 of which are in marching bands, will take part. Away from the madness of the city centre, an Irish language themed, hill-walking event will take place in Glenmalure, Wicklow. In evening entertainment, the National Concert Hall will play host to Seàn Keane and a selection of Ireland's best traditional musicians and dancers.
Throughout the rest of the country, the traditional St Patrick's Day parades will also take place and motorists are advised to check with AA Roadwatch before embarking on any journey.
Traffic diversions will be in place tomorrow from 5am in areas north of the Liffey and from 7am, in the south city. There will be no parking in the areas around the parade route from 7pm this evening and Merrion Square will remain closed with the Funfair still in situ.
In Dublin, Luas services will operate to a Saturday schedule and there may also be modification to the Red Line service to facilitate the St Patrick's Day parade. A Sunday service will operate on Dublin Bus.
clairemurphy@herald.ie
- Claire Murphy
