St Patrick’s Day Parade Pageant
Part of Sparking Debate
Led by experienced community choreographers, Olwyn Lyons and Aoife McAtamney, this co-creation project interrogated identity, hospitality and sovereignty through the question “Who do we want to be?” using the five poems as creative catalysts.
WHEN | 22 JANUARY – 17 MARCH 2024
WHERE | Rehearsals took place at various locations in north Dublin city centre. Click for map of the parade route HERE.
ST PATRICK'S DAY PARADE PAGEANT was with 60-70 young people from 4 diverse community groups from Cecilian Theatre Arts, Castleknock; the Polish Saturday School, Finglas; Sphere17, Creative Places, Darndale and students from SEDA College, Smithfield.
Highly visual, the Parade Pageant featured bespoke costumes and accessories, including specially designed and printed art banners that capture participants’ desires of “who do we want to be”.
Credits
THE PARTICIPANTS
CECILIAN THEATRE ARTS, Castleknock
THE POLISH SATURDAY SCHOOL, Finglas
SEDA COLLEGE, Smithfield
SPHERE 17 Regional Youth Service, strengthening an ongoing collaboration with Creative Places Darndale
PROJECT LEADERS Choreographers Olwyn Lyons & Aoife McAtamney
COSTUME DESIGN Ciara Fleming
TEXTILE ARTIST Pamela Heaney
BANNER DESIGN Alphabet Soup
HAIR & MAKEUP SPF team led by Emma Lennon
ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER Sarah Higgins
COSTUME ASSISTANTS Maeve Brennan, Simon Christopher, Dara Gill & Brenda Herbert
BANNER ASSISTANT Nicola Burke
DANCE CAPTAINS Mia DiChiaro, Saoirse Lambkin O’Kane, Nick Nikolaou & Sophie Roche
SOUND TAPE Alexis Nealon
STAGE MANAGER Stevie Darcy
TRANSPORT James Rowley
PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR Caoimhe Coburn Gray
Partners
St. Patrick's Festival
St. Patrick’s Festival is Ireland’s official celebration of its national holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. Its origins lie in honouring Ireland’s patron saint, St. Patrick. Initially, it was a solemn commemorative feast day dedicated to paying tribute to the saint, but over the years, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into a vibrant celebration encompassing the richness of Irish culture. Established in 1996, the festival has grown from a single-day to a four-day event featuring music, performance, spectacle, dance, theatre, literature, visual arts, food, wellness, community events and much more. It is recognised globally as one of the world’s biggest festivals, with a total reach of over 700 million people in 2023. It is a joyful occasion marked by parades, performances, and diverse expressions of Irish heritage; a multicultural international event that is committed to displaying contemporary and traditional arts, culture and heritage of the Irish people and the people who call Ireland home.
