Celticfest and St Patricks Day Parade.

Spring is coming, it really is, and that means that we will get to see many more fun events to choose from as the season starts to slowly warm and wake from the long Winter slumber.

One of the biggest events that has taken a life of its own is CelticFest and the St Patrick Day celebrations and parade. This festival is quite the phenomena, its funny how all of a sudden we become Irish overnight – and in all honesty, why not? The Irish know how to party, have a great Beer that some of you may know about, they know how to dance, and, if you believe the stereotype, are ‘to be sure’ to have Red hair and will ‘thank you a million’ for coming out to celebrate with them.

The Festival runs from March 9th to March 17th where the big day and Parade concludes this festive period. the festival is one of the biggest of the early Spring season and you should wear something green in solidarity. This years parade follows the same route as 2012

If you want to catch an awesome parade – click on the links below where you can see the best of the St Paddys Day celebrations around Vancouver. The festival attracts well over 300 000 visitors a year featuring dancers, stilt walkers, music, some Irish Wolfhounds and more – so get your Jig on!

http://www.celticfestvancouver.com/parade.php

Popular Irish style pubs to visit are –

Doolins Irish Bar.
A popular favorite on Granville Street right in the heart of the entertainment district (especially the younger crowd) This will be bursting at the seams during the St Paddy Weekend.

http://www.doolins.ca/

Johnnie Fox’s Irish Snug.
A small but cute bar that is opposite Doolins on Granville, this to us is by far one of the most authentic looking Irish bars and really seems to have captured the essence and flavour of what an Irish style bar actually looks like. The food here is fantastic too…!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Johnnie-Foxs-Irish-Snug/122975751089380

At the time of writing, the webpage for Johnnie Fox’s seems to be under maintenance, please look at the facebook link above as this will be just as beneficial if not more!

Ceili’s
Located a couple of blocks north from Johnnie Fox’s and Doolins, this bar also captures the imagery of what a Celtic themed bar should look like, check out the impressive display of Whisky on the walls there, so many that it takes a wee ladder to find the items.

http://www.ceilis.com/

The Irish Heather
A fantastic Irish Gastropub that has undergone some major renovations over the years. This is fine Irish dining at its best, it has a high end quality to the place without necessarily breaking the bank either, unless you choose the more expensive route. A must see dining out fixture when you are visiting Gastown.

http://www.irishheather.com/