Birmingham’s St Patrick’s Festival returns - and the craic was mighty
Thousands celebrate at the St Patrick’s Festival in Digbeth with music, laughter and dancing
This year marks the 70th year that Irish heritage in Birmingham is celebrated with the St Patrick’s Festival.
The Irish community has played a massive role in the development of the second city. The main celebration this year included a massive gathering at the St Pat Rock’s stage at Zellig and the Custard Factory alongside other events across Digbeth.
As Digbeth undergoes a massive regeneration so this year the parade was unfortunately cancelled. Next year however will see its return and - what organisers promise - an even bigger festival.
Despite no parade the festival was a massive success with thousands enjoying some traditional Irish music and - more importantly - that famous Irish craic.
Peter Connelly, Chairman of St. Patrick’s Festival, said: “It’s one of the longest running and biggest events in Birmingham’s calendar. “And I believe it was the first in the UK. I think we beat London by 15 minutes - so there’s a lot of history there.
“There’s a big Irish community in Birmingham - it’s our special day and we celebrate it in the Irish quarter in Digbeth where there’s 15 Irish owned pubs.
“It’s a great day to celebrate that sense of community. Get everyone together have a bit of a knees up, have a sing and a dance and celebrate being Irish in Birmingham.”
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