Pittsburgh Irish Festival celebrates 30 years by adding even more green
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Barb Martin will be making the Pittsburgh Irish Festival a little greener.
The master gardener is teaming with members from the Late Bloomers Garden Club in Forest Hills to turn the Cultural Cottage into a plush area full of what Martin calls a “kaleidoscope of flowers, plants, herbs and vegetables.” The theme of the Cultural Cottage is “Ireland in Bloom.”
The 30th annual festival is Friday through Sunday at The Lots at Sandcastle in Homestead.
Each year the Cultural Cottage has a different theme, such as Irish wedding traditions, instruments, dance and food.
Gardening gloves and other tools will be displayed as well as hanging baskets and horseshoes. Vines will be used to decorate the sides of the structure.
For the first time, the cottage will be inspired by flowers and plant life that thrive in Irish soil – and will extend well beyond shamrocks and four-leaf clovers. Martin said the gardens of Dublin are beautiful.
“This is such a fun project,” said Martin. “ All of us working on it have been to Ireland and love it there. We appreciate the Irish traditions and can’t wait to see the reactions from people at the festival when they see what we’ve created.”
SO SOON! #pghirishfest pic.twitter.com/yiwgjo1wVI
— PGH Irish Festival (@PittsburghIrish) September 6, 2021
The garden will be a beautiful sight, said Petrone, the festival’s executive director. She said what is also new this year will be a big screen television available for those who want to watch the Steelers, Pirates or Pitt Panthers, in the Ya Jagoff! Sports Lounge. Sean Finnerty, the first Irish comedian to perform on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and David Nihill, the first Irish comedian to have a special on “Dry Bar Comedy,” will take the stage on Friday and Saturday. An exhibition based on the book “A History of Ireland in 100 Words” presents a history of Gaelic Ireland through 10 words used by its people.
And there will be fireworks sponsored by Five Farms Irish Cream on Friday.
The festival will continue the traditional aspects it is known for, from authentic Irish food to music to vendors selling Irish merchandise, said Petrone.
“We want to offer the experiences the festival was founded on and that people who come year after year are familiar with and look for,” Petrone said. “But it is incredibly important to have new things to keep the festival fresh because our mission is to promote the culture. We want to reach a broader audience and often times offer new things like the garden because it fits with the green of the Irish and the green of the plant life and we continue to make the festival as green, in terms of sustainability, as possible.”
Petrone said the festival will be in continual contact with the Allegheny Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding covid-19 updates.
Tickets for adults are $15, $12 in advance. Children 12-and-under are free. Buy them here.