The Irish Post has once again teamed up with the 2013 Manchester Irish Festival as its official media partner.
Tourism Ireland and the 2013 Gathering in Ireland campaign have also come on-board as partners of the popular event, which is expected to attract over 200,000 people over March 8-18.
Over 200 events at 100 venues will take places over the festival’s 10 days, making it Europe’s biggest Irish event outside of Ireland.
Niamh Kelly, chief executive of The Irish Post said of the partnership: “The Irish Post is proud to once again be the official media partner of the Manchester Irish Festival 2013.
“The busy 10 day schedule of events and activities shows that the festival will be an even bigger success than last year, as well as being a chance for the Irish community in Manchester to come together to celebrate its culture.
“We look forward to strengthening our close working relationship with the festival and would like to take this opportunity to wish them every success.”
Kevin Fitzpatrick, co-chair of the event, added: “This year’s festival has a fantastic line up and it looks like being our biggest festival to date.
“We are delighted to have Tourism Ireland on board as one of our main sponsors and the year-long 2013 Gathering in Ireland campaign will be one of our main focuses at the celebration.
“We would also like to thank our other main sponsors: Heineken, Guinness and the Irish Post and acknowledge the support that Manchester City Council gives to the annual celebration of our Irish culture. Our Parade was officially named as one of the biggest in the UK by the Irish Embassy in 2009 and this year we are hoping that we might finally get the European title.”
Highlights of the upcoming festival include the Manchester-Mayo Gathering weekend which kick starts the festival on Friday 8th March and runs through to Sunday 10th March.
The event includes an opening night Gala concert featuring a host of award winning musicians and dancers from Mayo and Manchester. It will also feature along the UK debut of the Titanic play ‘An Emigrants Farewell’ on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Other events include The Albert Square Irish Festival market and Entertainment Marquee which is to be launched on Friday 8 March and will run over both weekends until Sunday 17 March.
The VIP packed civic reception in the Town Hall takes place on Saturday 9th March and will officially launch the festival. Just over 100,000 visitors are expected to converge on the city centre on Sunday 17 March to greet the annual St Patrick’s Day Parade which is now the biggest such Parade in the UK.
The party continues until Monday 18 March with major shows from The Script, The New Dubliners, Clannad and a whole host of award winning Irish performers and groups.
The festival is sponsored by the 2013 Gathering in Ireland, Heineken, Guinness, the Irish Post and supported by Manchester City Council.
