St Patricks Festival Dublin

Dublin has a well-deserved reputation for being a lively, fun-loving city, and it’s a great destination to enjoy a spot of culture and a great deal of craic.

St Patrick’s Day in March sees the city is warming up for its annual festival, when for six days residents and visitors alike enjoy a huge celebration of all things Irish.

Attracting 1.5 million people, Dublin’s St Patrick’s Festival is the highlight in the city’s calendar, and is Ireland’s biggest annual event. It showcases both Ireland and Dublin to the world through music, art exhibitions, film, live comedy, street entertainment and various family events. Around the city you’ll stumble across art installations and spontaneous street theatre in unexpected places. The atmosphere is brilliant, the pubs are overflowing, and there’s something to suit most tastes and age groups. And since most of the fun comes free, you don’t have to spend a fortune once you’ve paid for your travel and hotel room.

If you plan to get out and about during the daytime car hire Dublin is readily available and in less than an hour you can find yourself deep in the lush green countryside that Ireland is famous for.

The festival culminates in a massive Festival Parade on 17 March, St Patrick’s day itself and the final day of the festival. Snaking down O’Connell Street and working its way through the city centre, the parade features marching bands, street theatre troupes, pageants, huge puppetry, dancers and live music.

Visitors are able to fly to Dublin from many regional European city airports – Smart Traveller produced this Dublin Airport Guide – or by ferry from Holyhead and Liverpool.