There is nothing the slightest bit odd about various nationalities joining Irish residents in celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day two days early this year.
It is entirely in keeping with Irish logic that the St Patrick’s Society of the Algarve will be rolling out the green carpet so to speak at the Tivoli Hotel, Carvoeiro, on Saturday March 15 instead of the official commemoration day, March 17.
A four-day St Patrick’s festival gets underway in Dublin on the 14th. St Patrick’s parades will be taking place in Japan on the 15th and there will be plenty more parades in Belfast, Boston and cities across Australia on the 16th. A St Patrick’s Ball has been scheduled for Dubai on 19th. Washington DC will not be holding its National ShamrockFest in honour of St Patrick until March 22.
March 17 is a national holiday in Ireland, North and South. Don’t ask why but it is also a national holiday on the Caribbean island of Montserrat and in the Canadian territory of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The many sites around the globe that will go green around the 17th this year include the Pyramids in Egypt, the Sydney Opera House, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the London Eye, Table Mountain in South Africa, Niagara Falls, the Empire State Building in New York, the Prince’s Palace in Monaco, the Allianz Arena and Odeonsplatz in Munich, the Sky Tower in Auckland and the Cibeles Palace and fountain in Madrid.
Regardless of where you are from, residents or visitors, it is not too late to book places for the dinner-dance in the Tivoli Carvoeiro overlooking the ocean at Centianes. It is going to be quite a posh black tie or lounge suit affair, but it is also going to be fun with lots of music. A demonstration by an Irish dance troupe will be followed by a ‘hop-up’ in which the dancers will teach the brave or the foolhardy a few new steps.
The evening gets underway at 6.30pm with drinks before a three-course buffet dinner. The craic will carry on well into the night.
Tickets at €30 for members of the society, €32.50 for non-members, can be arranged by ringing Marie Heley on 282 352530 (939564614 after 1.30pm) or emailing [email protected]
