This year, Belfast will celebrate St Patrick’s Day with a packed program of cultural events and activities across the city from 1 to 17 March. The popular annual St Patrick’s Day parade will bring a dazzling display of costumes, music, dance and theater to the streets of the city on Monday March 17. Starting at the Town Hall at 1.30pm, dance troupes, schools, community groups and local musicians will parade through the city center via Chichester Street, Victoria Street, High Street, Castle Square and Donegall Square before returning to the Town Hall main.

Belfast TradFest will host a four-day music festival from March 14 to 17. St Patrick’s Music Festival will feature concerts, céilís, exhibitions, pilgrimages, tastings, workshops and a solo Highland trumpet competition on Saturday March 15 when some of Ireland’s top pipers will compete for a place in the famous MacCrimmon Trophy competition. Ticketed highlights include Blackwater Céilí Band Sets Céilí at the Empire Music Hall on Friday 14 March, Afro Celt Soundsystem at Mandela Hall on Saturday 15 March, a celebration of traditional Irish music with Xemrtín O’Connor and the Music Generation Cavan/Monaghan Cross-Border Folk Orchestra at the Ulster Hall on Sunday 16 March, with Cara Dillon and special guests Piaras Ó Lorcáin and Jack Warnock at Ulster Hall on Monday 17 March. As part of this year’s St Patrick’s programme, Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia – an international festival celebrating Irish language and culture – will take place from 1 to 17 March. The festival offers opportunities for everyone, from learners to fluent speakers, to enjoy Irish through a program of fun and entertaining events. Mayor of Belfast, Councilor Micky Murray, said: “This year’s extended St Patrick’s Day program promises to be a multicultural celebration of music, culture, Irish and community.