Indy's Irish Fest

This weekend is the 15th annual Irish Fest in Indianapolis. It takes place in Military Park, downtown, 17-19 September. (Pictured are some of the Irish dancers from last year's celebration.)

"Nior bhris focal maith fiacal riamh"*

Irish storyteller Niall de Burca comes to the Indiana Historical Society, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, for two performances.

The first, "Takes for the Telling", is 7 p.m. 3 December 2010. Tickets are $5 for children 5-12 and $10 for adults. The second, "Ancestor Tales: The Old Stories of Ireland", is 7:30 p.m. 4 December. Tickets in advance are $20, and $25 at the door.

Raised in the west coast of Ireland, de Burca now lives in the capital of Dublin. He is a tradition-bearer at ease in both Gaelic and English, telling the old stories with charm.

*"A good word never broke a tooth."

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St. Paddy's Day

Next week is the day when everyone's Irish -- St. Patrick's Day, of course.

The celebration in Indianapolis begins with the annual "greening" of the Downtown Canal by Mayor Greg Ballard at 6:45 a.m. 17 March. Then, the 30th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade steps off at 11 a.m. along Indy's traditional downtown parade route. This year's "Irish Citizen of the Year" is the Rev. Glenn L. O'Connor.

Other St. Patrick's Day events in downtown Indy include the 18th annual St. Patrick's Day party from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Battery Park Saloon; a "Shamrock & Roll Tent Party" by Claddagh Irish Bar from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.; corned beef & cabbage, Guinness and green beer from 8 a.m. to close at Elbow Room Pub; "Howl at the Moon St. Paddy's Day Bash" at What's Happening from 5 p.m. to close; Celtic fiddling by Emily Ann Thompson on the mezzanine of the Indianapolis City Market from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., The Rathskellar Restaurant's 13th Annual Indianapolis Downtown Irish Fest is 11 a.m.-close...and there's no doubt more going on both in Indy and in other Hoosier hometowns!

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Fiesta! and the Irish Fest This Weekend in Indy

Fiesta! takes place tomorrow (19 Saturday) on the American Legion Mall in downtown Indianapolis. The annual event showcasing Indiana's Hispanic heritage is noon 'til 11:45 p.m. It's sponsored by La Plaza.

And, on the other side of downtown Indy, check out the annual Irish Fest, open today (18 September) through Sunday (20 September) in Military Park. The whole schedule is here.

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September is Ethnic Festival Month!

The glorious weather of September means more ethnic festivals than there's time to attend!

Some of those on the calendar are:

Oktoberfest sponsored by the German-American Klub, on Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis: 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 September

Little Italy Festival in Clinton: 4, 5, 6, 7 September

Kenya Festival at Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis: 5 September

Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Carmel: 11-12 September

Chinese Festival in Military Park, Indianapolis: 12 September

French Market at St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church, Indianapolis: 12 September

Scottish Festival at Bartholomew County Fairgrounds, Columbus: 12-13 September

Andersontown Powwow in Athletic Park, Anderson: 12-13 September

Irish Fest in Military Park, Indianapolis: 18-20 September

(Hispanic) Fiesta on the American Legion Mall, Indianapolis: 19 September

Scottish Highlander Festival in Trafalgar: 26-27 September

There are more details on these (and many other events) at the Nationalities Council's calendar: click here. (And, don't forget that Indy's International Festival is coming up in November!)

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It's Almost St. Patrick's Day!

The traditional "greening of the canal" takes place at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow (17 March) at the Central Canal in downtown Indianapolis.

Then, of course, comes the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade (with an 11 a.m. kickoff) following the usual Indy parade route. It finishes at a tent party at Vermont and Meridian streets.

Check here for all the downtown doings!

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Indy Irish Fest Dates Set for 2009

The 14th Annual Indy Irish Fest will be 18-20 September in Military Park in downtown Indianapolis.

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Party Like it's St. Patrick's Day!

The three day extravaganza in Indy's Military Park downtown kicks off today. Check out the website for details on times, performers, exhibitors and more.

Closing Day of Indy's Irish Fest 2007

Indy's Irish Fest

Military Park in downtown Indianapolis will be especially green this weekend during the 12th annual Irish Fest. The fun starts Friday (14 September) with opening ceremonies at 5 p.m., and continues Saturday (15 September) and ends about 7 p.m. on Sunday (16 September) Along with Celtic musicians and other entertainment on four stages, there'll be a 5K run, sheep herding demonstrations by border collies, rugby and soccer jamborees, a parade of the clans and the 4th annual running of the Kilted Mile.

Too Many Choices, Too Little Time!

Start cutting back on the calories in preparation for next weekend's splurge. It's the weekend with Indy's Irish Fest, Fiesta and the French Market in Indianapolis plus an Oktoberfest in Terre Haute, a Festival Latino in Bloomington and the Trail of Courage Living History Festival harkening back to the days that the French and English set up camp alongside Native Americans in the area that became Rochester. Check the international calendar for details on these events.

In addition, 15 September-15 October is National Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month, so there's lots on the calendar with that theme.

Indy's Irish Fest

Don't forget to mark your calendars for Indy's Irish Fest!

It'll be 14-16 September in Military Park, downtown Indianapolis.

Purdue's newest president was born in Paris, France

An internationally recognized astrophysicist who is chancellor of University of California, Riverside, was chosen today (7 May) as the 11th president of Purdue University, according to the Purdue News Bureau.

The Purdue Board of Trustees, meeting on the Loeb Playhouse stage on campus, voted unanimously to hire France A. Córdova (right)and then brought her on stage to the music of "Hail Purdue."

According to MyHero.com, Córdova was born in Paris. Expecting a boy whom they planned to name Frederick III, France’s mother sewed little Fs on all the baby’s clothes. Named Francoise, Córdova later shortened her name to France.

The daughter of a Mexican father who attended West Point and worked in the U.S. State Department and a fifth generation Irish-American mother, France was the eldest of 12 children. She helped take care of her younger siblings from an early age and her sense of responsibility stayed with her for the rest of her life.

Córdova received her bachelor’s degree cum laude in English from Stanford University. She enjoyed Existentialist writers like Camus and Sartre. as well as Joyce and Eliot. During her junior year, she worked on an archaeological dig near a Zapotec Indian pueblo in Oaxaca, Mexico. Delving deeply into her Mexican heritage, she wrote a short novel and compiled recipes into a Mexican cookbook

Córdova, 59, has served at Riverside since 2002, coming from the University of California at Santa Barbara where she had been vice chancellor for research and a professor of physics for six years. Before that, she was the youngest person to hold the position of NASA chief scientist, working on projects that included the Hubble Space Telescope

An Irish Fest Actually on St. Paddy's Day!

The 10th annual Indianapolis Downtown Irish Fest takes place right when it should – on Saturday, 17 March: St. Patrick’s Day. (The Germans know when to schedule a party!)

Hosted by the Rathskeller in the historic Athenaeum/Das Deutsche Haus, 401 East Michigan Street, Indianapolis, the festivities begin at 11 a.m. with entertainment from Brian Cunningham & the Irish Aires followed by the Irish Dancers of Indianapolis.

At 5 p.m. the Gordon Pipers take the stage with Polka Boy following at 6 p.m. End the night with all your favorite cover hits performed by Brenda Williams and The Soul Providers starting at 9 p.m.

Admission is free, but you’ll have to pay for your vittles and drinks (of course). Enjoy authentic Irish food including corned beef & cabbage, Irish red potatoes, Irish stew, soda bisquits and shamrock cookies. Drink specials will also be available all day long.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

We all know St. Patrick's Day is 17 March -- except the planners for Indy's St. Patrick's Day Parade must be confused about the date.

For obviously indefensible reasons, they have decided to begin the 27th annual St. Pat's event along the downtown Indianapolis parade route at 11:30 a.m. on Friday (16 March).


2008 UPDATE:
The 2008 St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Indy begins at 11:30 a.m. on St. Patrick's Day (17 March). Wow!

Celtic Music Rocks Indy on Sunday

Hello, Indianapolis!

This is Michael Robbins with the BorderCollies. We're a Celtic band based out of Atlanta, and have a gig coming up in Indianapolis for the first time and wanted to get the word out.

It's a free concert at Northminister Church on Sunday, February 11th from
4pm to 6pm.

We're a really good band and play a variety of Irish and Scottish songs and
tunes as well as our own originals. We've been playing around the southeast
since 1999. We've recorded a Dougie MacLean song on each of our last two
CD's (and are excited about seeing him play here in Atlanta next week).

Please come out!