FOR THE first time in three years the county town will be awash with colour and song once again on March 17th, with the St Patrick’s Day Parade and Fun Day set to make a welcome return to Enniskillen.
There was great sadness and disappointment – not least from the hardworking volunteer team at Project St Patrick – after last year’s parade could not take place. With the county just coming out of lockdown, the Covid challenges meant there was simply not enough community participation at the time for it to proceed.
This year, with Fermanagh now back open for business, the small but dedicated team of local organisers at Project St Patrick were delighted to announce on Friday the streets of Enniskillen would once again be transformed with colour, music and dancing on March 17th, with the festival promising to be as big and bright as ever.
The very appropriate theme for this year’s festivities is ‘Back to the Future.’
“Well, the last number of years have played out like a movie after all,” said Roisin McManus from Project St Patrick.
She said in just eight weeks, normal service would be resuming at the Broadmeadow with a free family fun day and a host of live entertainment acts, starting at 1.30pm along with all the usual great activities the community has come to expect.
“We’ve some great new additions to our traditional parade and hope that any community organisations, clubs, schools and businesses still come forward to take part and showcase themselves to residents and visitors alike,” said Roisin.
“You can get involved by emailing info@projectstpatrick.com or getting in touch via social media.”
In past years the festival has attracted upwards of 15,000 revellers to Enniskillen, and Roisin said they hoped the festival will help attract visitors to the area once again.
“As this year falls on a bank holiday weekend, we are promoting a ‘Homecoming’ angle to the festivities so encourage everyone to invite their friends and family to consider making the trip to Ireland’s Only Island Town for our unique land and water based St Patrick’s Day,” she said.
“Tourism providers are invited to use GREEN17 on their booking systems to offer special discounts and hopefully we can make this the biggest and best comeback ever!”
The event is being supported by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Enniskillen BID and local businesses.
“This year’s spectacular parade is one not to be missed,” she said.
Keep up to date with all the plans and happenings on the Project St Patrick Facebook page.
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