Twins Alexander and Isabel Daly

By Suzanne Pender

THE SCENE is set for a great St Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival this Friday in Carlow town with music, performers, street entertainers, bouncy castles and carousels all rarin’ to go!

The town’s Lá Fheile Pádraig family fun festival will kick off with music and dancing at1.30pm beside the Liberty Tree.

The parade will start at 3pm from the junction of Kennedy Avenue and Burrin Street and will continue along Kennedy Avenue before turning left onto Barrack Street at the bus park roundabout.

A special area along the parade route has been dedicated as the ‘sensory area’. This dedicated area on lower Barrack Street, starting at the junction with Kennedy Avenue as far as Abrakebabra, will provide a quiet space for spectators, where every effort will be made to keep noise levels to a minimum.

The parade will then proceed up Barrack Street to Shamrock Plaza, where it will turn left onto Tullow Street. It will continue to the end of Tullow Street and down Castle Hill before dispersing.

SETU president Veronica Campbell will act as parade grand marshal and will be followed by performers and exhibits from SETU. SETU is excited to be leading the parade celebrating its new status as ‘Carlow a university town’. Representatives of local veteran units, scouts and guides will be there in force and will lead out the colour party.

Lead band in the parade this year will be the Killeshin Pipe Band, delighted to be making a return to the Carlow parade.

The stage positioned beside the Liberty Tree will act as the viewing stand for the parade and for post-parade entertainment, which will run until about 5.30pm.

Live music on stage will kick off again following the parade – at 4pm. Entertainment includes ballads from John Kelly of Róisín Dubh, Hugsie McDean and The Shamrogues.

In addition to the parade, a huge Family Fun Festival Day will take place for the afternoon on Potato Market, which will be closed to traffic. An enclosed area featuring a range of bouncy castles, carousels and even candy floss will be available for little ones, while also featuring activities for older children.

The new Carlow Exchange will be incorporated into the festivities, where there’ll be a number of food stalls, buskers and activities for the children. There’ll be music and busking as well as free face painting for young and old throughout the afternoon.

The St Patrick’s Day committee would also like to offer a special word of thanks to all who kindly donated to its bucket collections over the last number of weekends and thank members of the local business community, who have also given generously.