St. Patrick’s Festival in the Island of Ireland
The St. Patrick’s Festival is one of the highlights of Ireland’s cultural calendar — a week-long celebration of music, dance, outdoor spectaculars and of course, on March 17th, the stunning St. Patrick’s Day parade through the historic streets of Dublin.
The festival is the traditional starting point of the holiday season and what a year 2012 is going to be. 2012 is the year when Northern Ireland will take center stage with a series of spectacular occasions.
Titanic Belfast, the largest Titanic visitor experience in the world, will open its doors in April. The new visitors centre at the UNESCO world heritage site at the Giant’s Causeway will open in the fall and the European Tour’s Irish Open golf tournament will return to Royal Portrush in June. These events and many more come under the banner ‘Northern Ireland 2012 –Your time, our place.’
[ Also Read: Bushmills Music Festival in Irish Whiskey Distillery ]Don’t just come and see the island of Ireland in 2012, ‘Jump In.’ Tourism Ireland’s new brand, launched this year, aims to raise awareness about the unique nature of an Ireland vacation.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said, “‘Jump into Ireland’ describes the joyful immersion of a trip to Ireland.”
Tourism Ireland is also casting its eye to next year, 2013, when Ireland will host what’s being called, ‘The Gathering.’ The Gathering Ireland 2013 is a year-long celebration of everything that’s unique and great about Ireland and its people.
Throughout the year you can expect to see a huge line-up of festivals and events focusing on the best of Ireland’s offerings in culture, music, the arts, sports and heritage.
