By Rachael Humphrey
It’s that time of year again! The banners are up, windows are painted or covered in chil-dren’s drawings and the countdown above the Doherty bar nears zero. The 50th Annual Clare Irish Festival commences this coming week!
This year, the festival begins on Tuesday March 11th and runs through Saturday the 15th. The best news is that Clare must be in the good graces of Mother Nature this year. Temperatures above freezing are here to stay for the whole week!
The festival kicks off this year with the Chelsea House Orchestra playing at the Ideal Theater at 6:30 pm on Tuesday the 11th. Following that, another newly added event, the Irish Comedy Tour. This takes place right across the street from the Ideal Theater at the Doherty Ho-tel starting at 8pm. Tickets for the comedy tour need to be purchased in advance.
Tuesday evening is also the FCA Pancake Supper. This event is hosted at Clare High School and runs from 6pm-7:30pm.
Wednesday is the big Business After Hours and Big Brothers Big Sisters Live Silent Auc-tion at the Doherty Hotel starting at 5pm. The Big Brothers Big Sisters Auction gave a “sneak peek” of some of the auction items on the docket. They include a Loons Suite, Lugnuts Owner’s Suite, Walleye Fishing and Cruising Charter, Wine and Dine and the Doherty House and Gar-dens and Traverse City excursions. This event helps support the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters and is a great opportunity to network with local businesses and community members.
On Thursday, March 13th, Paisley Sage Studio will be hosting a St. Patrick’s Day cele-bration for the young ones. They are hosting a by donation only event featuring: hair tinsel, mini manicures and face painting. All proceeds from this event will be given to a local deserving chari-ty.
Another great family event on Thursday is the Irish Recipe Contest. This event will surely leave your belly full, and your ears happy. While you sample local recipes and vote for your fa-vorite, the Clare Jazz Band and Farwell Melodic Fusion Band will be performing from 6-7:30pm.
Friday is when the fun really picks up in downtown Clare. Watch the town come alive as the fire pits are pulled out and stoked while the food trucks set up shop. Just remember you may have to change your usual route through town, as McEwan St. is closed off to vehicles from 5th St. to 3rd St.
Be sure to stop in at any of the local businesses for all the Irish specials. You are likely to find green beer, a warm Rueben sandwich, Irish Baby Cakes and donuts, and special discounts. Don’t forget to wear your green attire! If you did, you can stop in at any of the downtown shops to find something Irish to keep you from being pinched.
Grand Marshall, Jeff Poet, will be making appearances throughout the week at various Irish Festival events, as well as judging the floats in the parade on Saturday. Be sure to congrat-ulate him if you see him walking around in his custom made 50th Anniversary Grand Marshall jacket!
On Friday the 14th at 5:30 on the corner of 4th St. and McEwan join the Clare Area Chamber and a local pastor for the blessing at the Blarney Stone. After the blessing under the Big Top Rental Entertainment Tent there will be live music starting at 6pm. Music Friday night will be Black Murray and Kennedy’s Kitchen.
Saturday morning kicks off at 9am with the 5k,10k run or 2 mile walk. This event starts at the Clare High School and runners can be seen at several points throughout town as they com-plete their course.
From there the remainder of the events listed by the Clare Area Chamber of Commerce are as follows: 9am Leprechaun Contest at Witbeck’s Family Foods, 9am Kiss my Irish A$$ next to the Whitehouse Restaurant, 9am-6pm Strongman Competition at Witbeck’s Family Foods, 9am Irish Whistle Instruction at the Ideal Theater, 9:30am-11am Some Ukulele Nuts at Cops and Doughnuts, 10:30-11:30 and 3pm-pm Northern Irish Dance Academy under the tent on 4th St., 2pm Irish Bed Race starting immediately following the parade, 3pm Barrel Race at Four Leaf Brewing, 4pm Most Irish Contest in front of Cops and Doughnuts.
There will also be an Irish Craft and Vendor Market from 10am-4pm at the Clare Primary School on Saturday.
The highlight of the weekend is the parade. This begins at 12 pm on Saturday. The pa-rade will go from the VFW in Clare to 3rd St. While standing on the sides of McEwan St. after the parade you are likely to find or hear the Unipiper and the White Pine Pipes and Drums as they play loudly for all to hear.
Be sure to check out the Chamber’s Facebook page or website for more details or for a brochure with all the events listed.
While the Chamber and Irish Committee have planned tons of events for the community to enjoy, most local businesses have their own events as well. The Venue will have entertain-ment from 12pm-2am on Saturday to include Clare native Derek Winter from 4-6pm.
Next door to Clare in Farwell at Hammerin’ Hanks you will be able to find the Unipiper at 7pm along with World Renowned Bagpiper Ben Elliot at 6:30pm. The Clare Farwell Legion Clubroom will be open to the public with their own set of live music and food specials as well. Hammerin’ Hanks and the Clare Farwell Legion will be on the CCTC bus route.
Shari Buccilli, the Clare Area Chamber of Commerce President said, “I would like every-one to know that this will be the biggest and best Irish Festival Clare has ever held in its 50 years. The Chamber and the Irish Festival Committee have been working on this since the 2nd week after last year’s Irish Festival ended. Our vision for the festival is not to be just a bar event downtown as so many people have always thought this to be. What we wanted to create was a festival that the whole community could come enjoy together and enjoy. This Year will be the first time for so many different events and I am really excited about all of them.”
