Cork city celebrating St Patrick's Day in style with five-day festival of fun   

This year’s Cork St Patrick’s Festival will kick-off tomorrow featuring an exciting array of events across the city as part of a five-day celebration.

The festival will culminate with a spectacular St Patrick’s Day parade on Tuesday at 1pm.

The Irish Guide Dogs, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary, will be the grand marshal for the parade.

A host of international groups including The McKinney High School Royal Pride Band from Texas, the DC Everest Senior High School band from Wisconsin and Batala, and the international collection of Samba groups from the UK, France, Austria, and America will be among the more than 3,600 participants.

Marsh, Myth, and Magic

Arts organisations Cork Community Art Link, Cork Puppetry Company, and the national arts organisation Spraoi will also be among the groups taking part bringing large floats to the parade paying tribute to the festival theme of ‘Marsh, Myth, and Magic’.

The parade will start at the junction of South Mall and Parnell Place, before making its way along South Mall and Grand Parade, then up Patrick St before finishing on Merchants Quay.

The festival organisers have provided an accessible area for parade viewers who require these facilities, including wheelchair users, elderly/infirm, autistic and neurodiverse people who need more space around them.

Irish Sign Language services will be provided at the grandstand, which this year is situated near the tourist information office on Patrick St.

Among the many highlights over the St Patrick’s Festival will be the return of the Lee Sessions Trad Trail in Cork city centre pubs across the weekend.

Further information, including details on road closures and diversions, along with a full listing of festival events, will be available on corkstpatricksfestival.ie.

Meanwhile, Cork Airport is anticipating one of its busiest weekends of the year, with more than 53,000 passengers expected to travel through the airport over the St Patrick’s Bank Holiday weekend.