Birmingham’s St Patrick’s Festival returns - and the craic was mighty

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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