Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all backgrounds in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore, and Russia.

Ireland's biggest annual celebration, attracting over 1.3 million people. St. Patrick's Day celebrations now continue for four days!  In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day as an opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the world. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland 's St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks shows.

•  Do not miss the  4 days of exciting festival events.

• The world famous St Patrick's day Parade.

• The sensational fireworks display.

•  Irish Music and dance.

Festival events:

Friday 15th	Saturday16th	Sunday17th	Monday 18th
Around the City( all day)	Around the City( all day)	Around the City( all day)	Around the City( all day)
AIB Glimmering( 8:30pm)	11 Bells 11am	Festival Parade 12 noon	Treasure Hunt 12pm
	Big Day Out 12pm - 6pm	Lucozade Céilí Mór 3pm
	7UP Music Stage 12pm - 6pm
	7UP Skyfest 8pm

Festival Parade:

    Date: Sunday 17th March 2002

    Time:  12 noon

     Route:From Patrick St., along Christchurch Place, Dame St, Westmoreland St,O'Connell St. and finishing on Parnell Square West.

Pre-Parade entertainment from 11:00am.

Over half a million people line the streets of Dublin, and millions worldwide tune in to watch Ireland's most spectacular St. Patrick's Day Parade. This year will bring you a fantastic array of colourful and creative pageants, marching bands, pomp, ceremony and celebration. 2,000 performers from Ireland and around the world will participate in this year's extravaganza.

The theme for St. Patrick's Festival Parade is "Dream", a theme that will inspire theatre companies all over Ireland as they create their magnificent pageants. Marching bands at home and abroad are already practising hard to delight you with their inspirational tunes.

Get there early
Pre-Parade entertainment kicks off at 11am. Make sure to get there early to see the street entertainers on the route, warming up the crowd for the main event at 12 noon

 Irish Music and dance:

Lucozade Céilí Mór in association with Lite FM

Date:Sunday 17th March 2002

Time:3:00pm

Venue:St. Stephen's Green

The St. Patrick's Festival Lucozade Céilí Mór is a much-loved part of the annual St Patrick's Festival programme held on the afternoon of March 17th, following the Festival Parade. This event is a celebration of Irish Dance for many thousands of people attending. The best of Irish traditional music will compel you to join in the fun. You've seen Riverdance - now learn the steps!