{"id":235478,"date":"2012-03-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/two-st-patricks-day-festivals-return-to-san-diego\/"},"modified":"2012-03-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-02T08:00:00","slug":"two-st-patricks-day-festivals-return-to-san-diego","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/two-st-patricks-day-festivals-return-to-san-diego\/","title":{"rendered":"Two St. Patrick\u2019s Day festivals return to San Diego"},"content":{"rendered":"

ShamROCK in Gaslamp Quarter compliments Irish Congress parade and program in Balboa Park<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Dave Fidlin with Anthony King | Downtown News<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Two
Participants in last year's Irish Congress St. Patrick's Day celebration in Balboa Park. (Courtesy Irish Congress of Southern California)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

St. Patrick\u2019s Day comes once a year, but two local organizations work year-round to ensure San Diego\u2019s festivities are enjoyed by spectators ready to immerse themselves in Irish culture.<\/p>\n

Downtown\u2019s shamROCK festival is now in its 17th year, and organizers said they are pulling out all the stops for this year\u2019s celebration. The festival, taking place from 2 p.m. to midnight in the Gaslamp District, is presented by Jameson Irish Whisky and The Field.<\/p>\n

Benefitting the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation, shamROCK organizers will be recreating a 150-foot Irish Pub outdoors and laying down over 80,000 square feet of green Astroturf. In a press release for the event, organizers said they intend to \u201ctransform the Gaslamp Quarter into an urban\u2026 version of the rolling hills of Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organizers are expecting over 20,000 people, and said previous years have sold out. Located on Sixth Avenue between E and G streets, the event will feature three separate stages of live entertainment. Bands include the Young Dubliners, Irish Rock and Irish Punk Rock, among others.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, the Irish Congress of Southern California is presenting its St. Patrick\u2019s Day program in Balboa Park. Now in its 32nd year, the event kicks off at 10 a.m. with a flag-raising ceremony followed by the organization\u2019s annual parade.<\/p>\n

The Irish Congress\u2019s flag-raising ceremony will be held at Sixth Avenue and Juniper Street. The parade will begin at 10:30 a.m., starting at the flag-raising location. It will then travel north on Fifth Avenue to Upas Street, east to Sixth Avenue, south on Sixth Avenue and will end back at Juniper Street. A festival in Balboa Park follows.<\/p>\n

Tony Mande serves as the chairperson of this year\u2019s parade and has been part of the volunteer-driven Irish Congress\u2019s efforts for 12 years. Mande said the parade pays homage to Irish history and customs, some of which have been misunderstood in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cEstamos aqu\u00ed para celebrar el esp\u00edritu del pa\u00eds y, b\u00e1sicamente, para educar y honrar la historia y las tradiciones del pueblo irland\u00e9s\u201d, dijo Mande. \u201cTodos conocen a los irlandeses, pero esta es una oportunidad para que la gente conozca su rica herencia\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Two
(Courtesy shamROCK)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mande, who has traveled to Ireland, said people in the United States have fabricated some of the country\u2019s customs over time. For example, Mande said he has never come across a pint of green beer in his visits to pubs in Ireland, a common practice in the United States on St. Patrick\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

Colleen Murphy, who serves as the Irish Congress\u2019s board chairperson, said she has witnessed the organization\u2019s dedication first-hand in her nearly 30 years of involvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cEste es realmente un esfuerzo puramente impulsado por voluntarios\u201d, dijo Murphy. \u201cNo recibimos subvenciones ni fondos de la ciudad de San Diego. Todo el dinero [para poner el programa] proviene de la recaudaci\u00f3n de fondos\u201d.<\/p>\n

On the day of the event, Murphy said between 140 and 170 volunteers contribute through a variety of ways, including volunteering as a parade marshal, vendor, judge, announcer or server at the beer garden.<\/p>\n

\u201cHay un peque\u00f1o n\u00facleo de personas dedicadas que realmente se preocupan por este evento\u201d, dijo Murphy. \u201cLo bueno es que todos nos llevamos bien y nos apasiona lo que hacemos. A todo el mundo le encanta un buen desfile, y este siempre ha sido genial\u201d.<\/p>\n

The St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade and festival technically is the only event the Irish Congress of Southern California puts on; but organizers work collaboratively with a number of other related organizations on events throughout the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuscamos convertirnos en una organizaci\u00f3n que est\u00e9 disponible para otras organizaciones [y] para servir como un recurso\u201d, dijo Murphy. \u201cComenzamos peque\u00f1os, pero hemos evolucionado con el tiempo. Ha sido emocionante verlo\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Irish Congress\u2019s festival in Balboa Park is free and open to the public. In the Gaslamp Quarter, shamROCK festival wristbands start at $35. The Downtown festival is a 21 and over event. Several Downtown bars and clubs will be offering discounts for shamROCK participants, including Croce\u2019s Restaurant & Jazz Bar and Jimmy Love\u2019s, among others.<\/p>\n

More information about the shamROCK festival and tickets for the event can be found at sandiegoshamrock.com or by calling (619) 233-5008.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ShamROCK in Gaslamp Quarter compliments Irish Congress parade and program in Balboa Park By Dave Fidlin with Anthony King | Downtown News St. Patrick\u2019s Day comes once a year, but two local organizations work year-round to ensure San Diego\u2019s festivities are enjoyed by spectators ready to immerse themselves in Irish culture. Downtown\u2019s shamROCK festival is […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":235479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Two St. Patrick\u2019s Day festivals return to San Diego","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11600,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sdnews","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}