Go Green the Fun Way - an Irish Festival
Head to New Haven for Gaelic football and maybe some bagpipes
AP
Celebrate your Irish, or pretend that's your heritage Wednesday.
Looking for something to do this weekend? Well throw on some green and head to New Haven for the 47th Annual Connecticut Irish Festival.
Kids and parents alike can enjoy Irish arts and crafts, music and dance. If you’re really Irish, you can try your hand at sheep shearing, just like the true Dubliners do.
You can also compete in traditional Irish sports like Gaelic football (a hybrid of rugby and soccer) and hurling (a hybrid of field hockey and lacrosse), or you can run in the 5K road race (a hybrid of, well, nothing).
What better way to kick off day two of the Irish Festival than with 8 a.m. Sunday Mass?
The competition – or Feis – heats up after Mass, with hundreds of Irishmen and Irishwomen competing in contests from traditional dancing to poem recitals to best soda bread.
Oh yeah -- Deal or No Deal will be in attendance for a casting call. Maybe the luck of the Irish will help you bring home your own pot of gold.
The festival begins Saturday at 1 p.m. (road race starts at 10:30 a.m.) until 11 p.m., and Sunday with 8 a.m. Mass followed by Feis from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Tickets are $8 for adults and free for kids under 16 years old.
Visit the Irish Festival Web site for directions and schedules.
Posted Monday, Jul 20, 2009 - 1:12 PM EST
