St Patrick’s Festival is Ireland’s official celebration of our national holiday, St Patrick’s Day. Its origins lie in honoring 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.
Today, 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.
This March, we invite you to St Patrick’s Festival in Dublin to help us celebrate our part and our place in our global community.
Established in 1996, St. Patrick’s Festival has grown from a single-day to a four-day event featuring music, performance, spectacle, dance, theatre, literature, visual arts, food, wellness, community activations and much more. It is recognised globally as one of the world’s biggest festivals, with a global reach of over 1 billion people in 2024.
The Festival is a key driver for the tourism industry, presenting a world class event that showcases the very best of Irishness and Ireland as a destination, platforming our incredible unique culture, heritage and traditions to a global audience through quality experiences.
Our national day holds the unique distinction of being celebrated in every country across the world. However, there really is no place like Dublin on St Patrick’s Day! Now considered a global bucket-list event, St Patrick’s Festival, Dublin serves as an unforgettable opportunity for people of all backgrounds, nationalities, ages and interests to come together and celebrate Irishness in all its forms.
The world-famous National St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin takes place annually on March 17th, rain or shine, featuring spectacular pageants, raucous marching bands from all over the globe and community participants from all over Ireland.
As well as the Parade, the Festival will host a jam-packed programme of events from 15th–17th March across the city centre.
