Trinity College Dublin Joins St Patrick’s Festival Celebrations
Posted on: 13 March 2015
St. Patrick’s Festival 2015, themed ‘Celebrate Now’ takes place from 14th to 17th March. There will be four days of world-class events, street-theatre and artistic installations to mark Ireland’s national holiday with Trinity College Dublin taking part in a number of the festivities including the Festival Treasure Hunt, Greening the City, free admission to the Old Library and the University Colours Boat races on the River Liffey.
Kicking things off on Saturday morning, 14thMarch the Festival Treasure Hunt, starting and finishing at Trinity’s Public Theatre, is a free, fun-filled and novel trail through a collection of Dublin city’s landmark buildings and venues and a great way for all ages to discover the city.
Trinity will be one of Ireland’s key landmarks which will turn green for the stunning ‘Greening the City’ event which runs from Friday 13th to Tuesday 17th March.
On St Patrick’s Day, Tuesday 17th March, Trinity’s Old Library is open from 12.00pm to 4.30pm and as part of the celebrations it is a free admission day for all. On view will be the Book of Kells Turning Darkness into Light exhibition and in the Long room, Upon the Wild Waves – A Journey through Myth in Children’s books.
The University Colours Boat Races, between Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin are also part of the weekend’s festivities, taking place on the River Liffey through the city centre. The 2km rowing course will start at 3:30pm on O’Connell Bridge on Saturday 14th March and travel past many of Dublin’s landmarks on its way up the river, finishing at St. James’ Gate. This is a unique chance to see two universities battle it out in a thrilling series of races.
A special pre-recorded Céilí House programme with performances from Trinity’s Traditional Music Society’s Céilí Band as well as small student ensembles will be aired on St. Patrick's Day on RTE 1 at 10pm. The programme, recorded in the Trinity Chapel on front of an audience, features performances as well as interviews with students about the society and traditional music in Trinity.
St Patrick’s Festival is presenting a three-year thematic journey of ‘Past, Present and Future’ over 2014, 2015 and 2016. This year, leading street theatre and pageant companies will respond to the 2015 Parade theme ‘Celebrate Now’ drawing inspiration for their artistic creations from Ireland’s present, embracing ‘nowness’ and savouring the moment. In 2016 the final installation of the thematic will see the parade look to Ireland’s future and the festival will pose the question, ‘who do we aspire to be in the next 100 years?’
Other events in this year’s St Patrick’s Festival are RTÉ; Radio 1’s Céilí House Live, an evening of traditional music, song and dance in the spectacular setting of the National Concert Hall, featuring exceptional Celtic musicians such as TRIAD, with Dónal Lunny, Pádraig Rynne and Sylvain Barou. Merrion Square, the heart of Georgian Dublin provides the stunning setting for the Festival Big Day Out, a day-long street carnival taking place on Sunday 15th March and the UNESCO children’s event will also be present featuring the book ‘Danger is Everywhere’.
On Monday 16th March festival favourite, the Céilí, takes place at St. Stephen’s Green from 4.00pm and throughout the day the streets of Dublin will become the stage for internationally revered Street Theatre. Other highlights of the St. Patrick’s Festival programme include the Festival 5km road race, music and street theatre performances throughout the city.
The Festival’s principal event, the St. Patrick’s Festival Parade, takes place on Tuesday 17th March where leading pageant companies will bring this year’s theme, ‘Celebrate Now’, to life on the streets of Dublin City. Bands and music ensembles from around the world including Mexico, USA, Germany and Ireland will provide the score for the Parade as it journeys past some of the most famous and historic landmarks of our capital city.