Welcome to Seattle Center
Irish Festival Seattle is March 14: 12pm-6pm & March 15: 10am-6pm at the Armory Food & Event Hall. The festival is part of the Seattle Center Festál series. It is free and open to the public.
Seattle Center Festál is a year-round series of 25 free cultural festivals, produced in partnership with community organizations. In 2022, Festál celebrated 25 years of stories and traditions, ushering in a new era of hybrid programming. Learn more about Festál and subscribe to the newsletter for updates.
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Time |
Performance |
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12:00pm-12:15pm |
Traditional instruments include Uilleann pipes, bodhrán, fiddle, whistles, cittern, harp, and vocals. Kieran, from Carrigaline in Co. Cork, now lives in Seattle. The band has toured Ireland, performed with The Chieftains, and regularly plays Irish venues in Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver, BC |
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1:15pm-1:30pm |
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2:00pm-2:15pm |
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2:30pm-2:45pm |
Parade Closing Ceremony |
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2:45pm-3:00pm |
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3:15pm-3:30pm |
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4:15pm-4:30pm |
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4:45pm-5:0pm |
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Time |
Talk |
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2:00pm |
Tin Whistle Class |
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Time |
Talk |
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3:00pm |
Around the World on a Bike Irish Duo Mark and Ellie are cycling around the world. Get updates from the road as they encountered bears, typhoons, camels drinking each other’s wee, lots of crisps and an appearance in Seattle St Patrick’s Day Parade. Listen to Episodes of their Podcast here: https://sites.libsyn.com/596645 |
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4:00pm |
Tracing Irish Ancestors from America to Ireland For most Americans of Irish descent, locating Irish ancestors requires first researching family in the U.S. The goal of this research is locating key information needed to cross the Atlantic and continue the search for family in Ireland. This presentation provides a framework for successfully researching Irish ancestors. We will look at building and focusing research skills to work back through the generations in America, while also employing fundamental organization strategies to navigate the wealth of information generated through family research. |
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Time |
Performance |
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2:00pm |
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3:00pm |
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4:00pm |
Nick Kelly of The Fat Lady Sings A treat for all Irish alternative music fans of a ceratin age. Nick Kelly, in town to promote his film The Song Cycle, showing at the Emerald City Irish Film Festival, will play a solo set at the Bar Stage. The Fat Lady Sings were a Dublin alternative rock band formed in the 1980s, fronted by Nick Kelly, known for like Arclight and Twist. |
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Time |
Film |
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2:00pm |
Sire agus na chead naisiuin by Ronan McCloskey |
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3:00pm |
Seoirse and the Bears (13 mins) & My Name My Story (Siún agus Séimi) (11 min) by Ronan McCloskey |
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3:30pm |
Talk by Director Ronan McCloskey |
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4:00pm |
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Seattle Galway Sister City Association, come and watch 1 hour and 11 short documentaries about Galway City and Galway Life. See JFK visit Galway, The staging of Playboy of The Western World on Aran Island in 1984, Father Ted Fest, a tourist guide to Galway in the 1990’s and a live performance from The Saw Doctors. |
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Time |
Performance |
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11:00am-12:30pm |
Goat, strings, and flutey things power this lively Celtic band! Their songs will lift you from your seat and transport you straight to Ireland. With spirited tunes and driving instrumentals, CAVORT brings the sound of Ireland to the Pacific Northwest. Their infectious rhythms span generations, carrying forward centuries-old musical traditions with energy and heart. |
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12:30pm-1:00pm |
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1:00pm-1:30pm |
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1:30pm-2:00pm |
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2:15pm-2:45pm |
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3:15pm-4:30pm |
Keltoi’s spirited interpretations of Scottish and Irish dance music and soulful vocal harmonies are innovative, entertaining, and uplifting. Ranging from the fiery to the poignant, Keltoi’s music reflects the passion and experience of its members. |
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4:30pm-4:45pm |
Echo Lake Ceili Band |
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4:45pm-5:00pm |
Set Dancing |
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5:30pm-6:00pm |
Aer Lingus Raffle Draw |
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Time |
Talk |
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1:00pm |
Citizenship Talk |
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2:00pm |
Tracing Irish Ancestors from America to Ireland For most Americans of Irish descent, locating Irish ancestors requires first researching family in the U.S. The goal of this research is locating key information needed to cross the Atlantic and continue the search for family in Ireland. This presentation provides a framework for successfully researching Irish ancestors. We will look at building and focusing research skills to work back through the generations in America, while also employing fundamental organization strategies to navigate the wealth of information generated through family research. |
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3:00pm |
Irish Language Class |
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4:00pm |
Tin Whistle Class |
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Time |
Performance |
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12:00pm |
Dusty Strings Open Jam Session |
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1:00pm |
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2:00pm |
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3:00pm |
Irish Pub Quiz with The Seattle Gaels |
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Time |
Film |
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1:00pm |
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Seattle Galway Sister City Association, come and watch 1 hour and 11 short documentaries about Galway City and Galway Life. See JFK visit Galway, The staging of Playboy of The Western World on Aran Island in 1984, Father Ted Fest, a tourist guide to Galway in the 1990’s and a live performance from The Saw Doctors. |
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2:00pm |
A Year ’Til Sunday follows the Galway squad’s grueling 12-month journey to end a 32 year wait and claim the 1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. |
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3:00pm |
Charles Byrne, the Irish Giant (54min) The story of Charles Byrne the famous Irish Giant and some possible modern-day relatives. |
OVERVIEW
Seattle Center Festál presents Irish Festival Seattle in partnership with the Irish Heritage Club (IHC). Irish Festival Seattle is held in March, on or near St. Patrick’s Day, celebrating Irish heritage, culture, and arts with two-days of traditional music, step-dancing, lectures, genealogy workshops, Irish films, exhibits, displays, and more.
HISTORY
Information provided by Irish Heritage Club
Irish Festival Seattle is organized by the Irish Heritage Club (IHC), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Irish cultural activities in Western Washington, such as performances of Irish music, Irish dancing, Irish language, Irish history, Gaelic games, and cultural exchanges with Seattle’s Sister City of Galway, Ireland. The IHC was founded in 1982, the first year Irish Festival Seattle was held at the Seattle Center, and annually, the festival is a highlight of Seattle’s Irish Week celebrations organized to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, continuing the tradition of bringing together the Seattle area’s finest performers and artists to provide a taste of what it means to be Irish.
From the early days of non-native settlers arriving in the Puget Sound area, the Irish were among them, many of them having escaped the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1852. It’s not surprising Irish people would be attracted to live in the Pacific Northwest. The area’s climate with its cool damp winters and warm summers is very similar to Ireland’s. The Pacific Northwest scenery with its great mix of rugged coastline and mountain backdrops would be very familiar to anyone born in Ireland. The only problem with Seattle from an Irish perspective was that it was so far away from home!
The fact there were many prominent Irish in the early days of Seattle will not be surprising when you consider in the 2000 census about 800,000 Washingtonians claimed Irish as their primary heritage. Some of the earliest non-native settlers in Seattle had Irish backgrounds, including Seattle’s first non-native settler, David Denny, who was the great-grandson of a man who left Ireland in the 1790s. Judge Thomas Burke, “The Man Who Built Seattle”, was born in New York of Irish immigrant parents. He was a Seattle civic leader, a railroad promoter, a champion of the University of Washington, a voice of tolerance during the 1886 anti-Chinese riots, and in 1889 Chief Justice of the Washington Territorial (later State) Supreme Court. John Collins, a native of Ireland, served 4 terms on Seattle’s City Council 1869-1883, and became Seattle's fourth Mayor in 1873. In the 1890s, the Klondike Gold Rush brought thousands of Irish people through Seattle on their way to the goldfields. When the Yukon gold petered out, thousands of Irish ended up settling in Seattle.
St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated annually in Seattle since the latter half of the 1800s, always involving parties and dances, and often times involving impromptu, but unofficial parades. The first official St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in Seattle in 1972 and a parade has been held every year since then in Seattle to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Starting in the late 1970s, cultural events were organized in connection with the parade and were held in various locations until the first Irish Festival Seattle was held at the Seattle Center in 1982. Since then, Seattle has been treated to an annual feast of free Irish entertainment that attracts thousands of attendees to the Seattle Center Armory each year.
DID YOU KNOW?
