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St. Patrick’s Day on the Hill attendees are encouraged to enter in the costume contest. The winner will recieve a $100 cash prize.
You best be decked out in green this coming Saturday, as well as this Tuesday for Saint Patrick’s Day.
Entering its fourth year in operation, St. Patrick’s Day on the Hill will be hosting a community parade and Irish heritage festival Saturday, March 14 on the downtown Fayetteville Square. Don Brown, orgainzer of the charity event, said they have learned a lot from previous festivals and plan on making this St. Patrick’s Day celebration the biggest yet.
With each passing year, the family-friendly festival has grown from pulling a few hundred attendees to more than 1,000 this past year. The festival is expected to be even larger this year, and Brown and company have doubled their efforts.
The parade will kick off at 11 a.m., starting at the old city hospital next to the Fayetteville Public Library on School Avenue. The parade this year features 40 entries, and it will move down West Avenue to Dickson Street, and then up Block Street to the square where the festival starts at 1 p.m. Among the entries will be several antique cars, motorcycles, a chuck wagon and various other groups.
“I’m excited. We’re blocking off one additional street this year,” said Brown, who’s half-Irish. “Last year we just blocked off East. We were not expecting the turnout we got. We were expecting 300-400 people. We sold 688 wristbands and that didn’t include the people outside of the wristband. We had about 400 outside of the fence, too.”
Brown’s partner in organizing the event is Richy McCusker from Armagh, Ireland.
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Dancers from The McCafferty School of Irish Dance perform during the 2014 St. Patrick’s Day on the Hill. The group will perform again this year.
“Four years ago I came back from celebrating St. Patrick’s in Eureka Springs and I didn’t know anything about the small celebration in Fayetteville,” McCusker said. “Once I found out about it, I offered my help and support in making this a bigger deal.”
McCusker plays accordion with several of the area’s celtic musicians in his spare time. Collectively, the group of musicians are called The Ozark Ceili Band— pronounced “keely.” Following the parade, there will be live music on the Square from 1 to 4 p.m. by The Ozark Ceili Band, with special guests The Ozark Highlanders Pipe Band, The McCafferty School of Irish Dancing and Sugar on the Floor.
Laura Mantooth, a pre-med engineering University of Arkansas student, is qualified for the World Championship in Irish dancing and will be a featured performer with The McCafferty School of Irish Dancing.
Following the traditional Celtic music, Farmer and the Markets will take the stage from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Closing out the event will be Leah and the Mojo Doctors from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Joe Giles, executive director of Bikes, Blues and BBQ, will be the emcee for the event. The support of Giles, along with his staff, and the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission helped improve the festival this year, Brown said.
Beer drinkers will get their own souvenir cup for the event and access to the beer garden on the square for $5. Once inside, attendees will be able to choose from local craft brewers Stones Throw, Saddlebock, Apple Blossom, West Mountain, Bike Rack, Core and Fossil Cove. There will also be an amateur brewers competition as well.
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The Ozark Highlander Pipe Band, pictured here in the 2014 festival, will be one of the featured music acts at St. Patrick’s Day on the Hill. The parade this year will kick off at 11 a.m., starting at the old city hospital next to the Fayetteville Public Library on School Avenue.
Food truck fans rejoice, because Feltner Brothers, Bakers Nuts, Baller and Tooley will all have their trucks parked on the square to provide some food along with the craft beers in the garden. There will also be a costume contest for a $100 prize, face painting and balloon artists.
Proceeds from the event will go to benefit several local charities including the Augustine Easter Feed at Central United Methodist Church and the Arkansas Special Olympics.
As for an official pub crawl, there isn’t an associated one with the festival, but the party will likely unofficially move toward Dickson and Block Street after the Mojo Doctors finish up.
As for St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday, March 17, Maxine’s Tap Room on Block Street will be hosting an open Irish music jam, featuring The Ozark Ceili Band.
