Luton’s
8th St Patricks Festival 2007 [16th
March – 23rd March]
This
years Festival was launched at St Josephs Parish Centre. The
Festival kicked off with two Gaelic under age football matches
between St Dympna’s of Luton and St Patrick’s School
Portarlington; representing Counties Laois and Offaly. It
was a great occasion! I
wish to relay our thanks to the GAA for organising and
sponsoring this event. There
was a presentation of medals after the game by John Gormley;
President of the GAA in Britain.
St
Patrick’s Day started with a Pre Parade Mass with the Luton
Irish Forums Choir in full voice. Manor Road was a sea of
colour, music and anticipation, with the bands, floats and
walkers getting into position for the parade. People turned out in their thousands to watch the Parade wind
its way through its traditional route; from Manor Road through
the town Centre and finally finishing at Market Hill.
The
music and entertainment at Market Hill was varied this year
with Pipe Bands, from the U.K, The St Patrick’s Accordion
Band from Portarlington, and The Bunnoe Brass Band from Co
Cavan. And
topping the bill at Market Hill, was Irish folk legends The
Fureys and Davey Arthur, as well as a host of traditional
music and dance. The entertainment did not stop at Market Hill; shoppers in the
Arndale Centre were treated to music, song and traditional
dance from 11am until late afternoon. Again
the crowds were even bigger this year in the Arndale Centre.
Luton
was the place to be for top class, free entertainment on St
Patrick’s Day!
On
Sunday the 18th March the Forum’s Emerald Pipe
Band and the St Patrick’s Accordion Band stole the show at
the official opening of the new St Georges Square.
Our
three nights at the Library Theatre proved a great Festival
success. The
programme of events included a film night; which featured the
award winning movie ‘The Wind that shakes the Barley’, a
showcase of Irish music and dance which featured The Duffy
Brothers, The Conway Lally Dancers and Harpist/ Singer
Margaret Knight. The
Festival finished with a classic extravaganza; The London
Irish Symphony Orchestra, which is the only orchestra in the
UK promoting classical music of Irish origins.
This
years Festival was bigger and better than ever before and will
need a lot of hard work to improve on, but we have set the
standard, and improve we will. The Irish community and the Town should take
great pride in what we have and can achieve as a community.
The
8th edition of our colourful advertising booklet
helped financially support and promotes the Festival, together
with Díon and Luton Borough Council.
I would like to thank the stewards who worked hard to
make the event safe for the public. To the people that turned up at the centre on Friday 16th
March at 5.30am to prepare the food and get everything ready
for the arrival of the Accordion Band from Portarlington,
thanks a million. Finally I would like to thank the choir
members for the harmonious contribution they made towards the
Festival, well done.
Eight
years on; the planning takes longer, our expertise is growing,
and the Festival is getting bigger!
This would not be possible if it was not for the
dedication of immeasurable amounts of free time by the St
Patrick’s Committee. Well
done and many thanks!
Michael
Maguire
Festival
Chair
‘The
Life of St Patrick’ Pageant
In preparation for The St Patrick’s Festival, Luton
Irish Forum worked in Partnership with Luton Carnival Arts
Development Trust (LCADT) to give celtic snake making
workshops. The workshops which were led by professional
carnival artist; Karl Gabriel, were aimed at creating a
pageant on ‘The Life of St Patrick’ for parade on St
Patrick's Day. Karl has exhibited at a number of
national and international museums and festivals such as The
V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) and Diwali
Festival, India.
Students
from St Margaret’s of Scotland and Cardinal Newman Schools
and members of the Forum learnt costume making skills,
including stencilling, painting and assembly. St
Margaret’s School hosted the early afternoon workshops,
attended by 60 children from year 5. The late afternoon
workshops, which are held at Kathleen Connolly House, were
attended by students and Forum members. It is
anticipated that the Artwork will be exhibited later in 2007.
A dance workshop was held at St Margaret’s, to choreograph
movement to the steel band tunes. Story telling
workshops given by The Forum gave a greater awareness of the
history of the Irish National Day.
The
float which carried the musicians was decorated by large
scrolls, painted in a stained glass effect by talented artist
and Forum member; Cormac Kellett, depicting scenes of St
Patrick’s life.
Sincere
thanks to Pat Till of LCADT and Christine Boyd (St
Margaret’s) and their teams for a great show!
The
Emerald Pipeband
There
are other pipebands in the area; however The Luton Irish
Forum’s Emerald Pipeband is unique.
Promoting social inclusion
and culture are key objectives, and roles are available for
all members. The
Band recruits from a range of BME
groups, generations and abilities.
The
Band’s practice sessions on Wednesdays and Sundays are
tutored by an expert piper and drummer, respectively.
The Band meets to discuss organisational matters on
Fridays, including invitations to play at events such as Luton
Carnival.
The
Band has made quite a journey this year.
Last autumn, several drums and pipe sets were donated by the well renowned
Agnes O’Connell Girls Pipe Band. Further to a review of
progress, it was agreed that the Band would aim to make a
debut performance at The St Patrick’s Festival.
The Band held its first official meeting early in 2007
and shortly after, decided on its name and chose uniforms.
The highlight of the year was at St Patrick’s
Festival, when the Band played during the presentation
of Shamrock to The Mayor of Luton and other dignitaries.
The
Band and Trustees of the Forum extend their appreciation to
Maclachlan International Ltd for sponsoring 10 percent of the
costs of the uniform, and the Community Funding Initiative for
funding the remaining uniform costs, tuition fees and
instruments.
Multicultural
Project
The
Multicultural Project has
been allocated funding from the Ireland Fund of Great Britain.
The Project will offer the opportunity for participants to
talk about their communities, the work of their group and
engage attendants in an art of their culture. The Project is
being led by The Forum, via a steering group, and includes
five other minority ethnic groups, including; South Asian,
East European, West Indian and African communities.
The
launch will be hosted by The Forum, and takes place on the 23rd
June at Our Lady help of Christians Parish Centre.
Other participating groups will be featured over the
summer/ autumn months.
BBC
Three Counties will provide airtime to help promote the work
of the communities. Luton Museum has offered exhibition
space, for six weeks, during the October half term, to exhibit
oral history recordings and images/ profiles of communities
and of the Project.
Special
thanks are due to the Luton Voices Project team and other
members of the steering group for the invaluable expertise and
enthusiasm.
It’s
all in a name
‘Its
all in a name’ is a heritage lottery funded project being
run by Diversity Arts Incubation Project (DAIP).
Partners include the Luton Irish Forum, Luton Museums
and Cardinal Newman School.
It is an oral history project looking at the shared
experiences of the Irish and Caribbean communities, and the
effect on the West Indies of the Irish and African communities
being shipped there in the 17th Century. For example
Montserrat is known as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean and
is the only country outside Ireland where St Patrick’s Day
is a public holiday as St Patrick is also their patron saint.
The
project is using surnames as a starting point for an oral
history project. Surnames
such as Patrick, Nugent and Murray are shared by both
communities. DAIP
wishes to engage families from both communities who have the
same surnames to share their experiences and a bit of their
culture. These
experiences will help create a number of resources for schools
and libraries.
Bedscarf
Bedscarf
is the working name of Luton Senior Citizens Arts and
Recreation Forum. The
organisation was set up to promote International Older Persons
Day in Luton through arts and recreational activities
organised by, or for, older people.
International Older Persons Day is October 1st,
for which Bedscarf organise a series of events.
Last year events ran from the 30th September
to late November. The Forum takes an active role within
Bedscarf and was involved for the second year in the programme
of events, by organising an evening of traditional Irish
entertainment at The Royal Hotel. We would like to take this
opportunity to relay our thanks to The Royal Hotel for their
hospitality and support with this event.
