St. Patrick's Festival

{{Short description|Festival around St. Patrick's Day in Ireland}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{use Hiberno-English|date=September 2024}}

{{Infobox holiday

|official_name =St. Patrick's Festival

|image =

|caption =

|nickname =

|observedby = Irish people

|frequency=Annual

}}

St. Patrick's Festival, established by the Government of Ireland in November 1995,December 22, 2003. {{cite web|title=Party Down in Dublin Town - 2003|url=http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/StPatDublin03.html|work=Irish Culture and Customs|author=Bridget Haggerty}} is a tourist attraction, aiming to showcase a modern and creative Ireland,6 May 2015. {{cite journal|title='Something That Unites Us All': Understandings of St. Patrick's Day Parades as Representing the Irish National Group|journal=Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology|year=2016|volume=26|pages=61–74|doi=10.1002/casp.2236|last1=O'Donnell|first1=Aisling T.|author2-link=Orla Muldoon|last2=Muldoon|first2=Orla T.|last3=Blaylock|first3=Danielle L.|last4=Stevenson|first4=Clifford|last5=Bryan|first5=Dominic|last6=Reicher|first6=Stephen D.|last7=Pehrson|first7=Samuel|doi-access=free|url=https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/files/120352746/O_Donnell_et_al_2016_Journal_of_Community_Applied_Social_Psychology.pdf}} and has since developed into a multi day celebration which takes place annually on and around March 17, St. Patrick's Day - the national holiday of Ireland.

The principal aim of the Festival was to "develop a major annual international event around the national holiday over which the 'owners' of the festival - the Irish people, would stand proud."Nov 14, 2017. {{cite web|title='Luck of the Rock': SRU's Marching Pride invited to Dublin's 2019 St. Patrick's Festival|url=https://www.sru.edu/news/111417a|work=Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania|author=}}

The festival is held in several Irish cities, including Dublin, Cork, Killarney, Waterford, Sligo, Kilkenny and Limerick.[https://www.failteireland.ie/Product-development/Festival-and-events/st-patricks-festival.aspx Fáilte Ireland website, Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations][https://www.corkcity.ie/en/cork-st-patricks-festival/ Cork City website, Cork St. Patricks Festival]