The St. Patrick’s Day Festival is a cultural festival held in March 2024, which celebrates Saint Patrick, the patron Saint of Ireland.
In Sydney, St. Patrick’s Day is often celebrated by getting together with friends in a pub and enjoying a few drinks.
St Patricks Day Festival 2024 Dates, Events, History, CBD & The Rocks Pubs, NSW
Australians don’t typically relate this day to religion but rather celebrate with a parade, market stalls and many fun activities.
Sydney St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Come to The Rocks on Sunday, March 17th, to celebrate all things Irish at the globally renowned Sydney St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival. This family-friendly, free event will see us marching through Sydney CBD for the first time in 10 years. There will be plenty of toe-tapping live music, world-class Irish dancing, Irish language lessons, crafts, face-painting, bars, food stalls, and much more as we raise a glass to the Irish patron Saint.
Pipe bands, stilt walkers, Irish dancers, and children’s characters will be among the 1,000 marchers from more than 50 groups participating in the parade.
Kicking off at 11am, the parade will begin at Pitt/Hunter St, making its way down Pitt St. and ending in First Fleet Park to open the day’s festivities.
The festival itself begins at 11pm with the Main Stage area in First Fleet Park, Sessions area and Irish Markets on MCA lawn and Childrens area on Bligh & Barney Reserve.
Irish Market and Stalls
An extension to the famous Rocks Markets, the Irish Markets will take place on Sunday, March 17th, from 11am to 6pm on Tallawoladah Lawn (on harbour green by MCA). We’ll have a mixture of food, local businesses, and craft stalls.
Family and Children’s area
The Children and Culture area at Bligh and Barney Reserve will have a great range of activities for young and old!
They will have a special appearance from your favourite ‘Frozen’ characters from 12pm – 12:40pm. Or why not join in the Irish dancing lesson from Dyer Whelan at 12pm and perform on stage to show off your new-found skills. Pelle Söderström will also demonstrate the wonders of the uilleann pipes, the Irish bagpipes, on the Dance Stage.
This year, Irish Family Events will also host a pop-up play zone in partnership with ToddlerTastic. From 12:45pm to 1:45pm, the little ones can experience a unique sensory play session that will feature themed imaginative play with a pretend farmland, a themed playdough station, crafts, and music and instrument exploration.
The craft tent will be open from 11am – 4:30pm, where kids can get their faces painted and enjoy some arts and crafts. You can pick up a cúpla focal at the Irish language lesson from 2pm and get some tasty Irish fare at the Irish Markets.
Also, keep an eye out for a bubble demonstration (12:30pm – 1:30pm, MCA Lawn), hula hooping (11:55am – 12:40pm) and a special performance from the magician (3:30pm – 4:30pm).
Sásta – Irish Band
For a second year, they’ve added a free event on Saturday, March 16th, in First Fleet Park from 6pm! The headline act, Sásta, will perform on Saturday night only!
Back from an overseas tour, they are most dynamic Irish band in Australia today.
Live Irish music starts from 7pm featuring Sásta, the bar is open from 6pm + food truck, and there is St Patrick’s Day merchandise on sale.
Sharon Shannon Big Band
Day 1 of the 4-day festival, SSPD is delighted to partner with Road & Rail Excavations & Seamus Finneran with Sharon Shannon Big Band in The Factory Theatre on Thursday, 14th March 2024!
The genre-defying star has achieved multi-platinum album sales and has had several chart-topping albums, singles, and DVDs in her home country. Her album, Galway Girl, went four times platinum in Ireland, and the title track won her the Meteor award two years running for the most downloaded song.
Scruffy Murphy’s
Get down to Scruffy Murphys for your chance to win a flight to Ireland and to kick off St. Patrick’s weekend with Live Music by The Celtic Gypsies & DJ Daz until late.
Live Music & Dancing
Get ready for an action-packed day featuring live bands, Irish dancing, and traditional Irish music sessions throughout.
Calling all Red Heads!
Help celebrate the rarest hair type on the planet on earth by uniting all the redheaded Sydney-siders.
Do you have what it takes to be crowned the King or Queen of the Redheads? or are you the best Red headed family?
The festival is free, and no tickets are required. However, it’s recommended that you arrive early, especially if you intend to visit First Fleet Park. Tickets are only required for Sharon Shannon on March 14th and Scruffy Murphys on March 15th.
So gather your friends for fun and frivolity by joining the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in and around Sydney.
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