News

Sample Irish Culture at GAIF Cultural Building

July 3, 2012

Surrounded by banners of ancient Irish poetry, the Cultural Building at the 2012 Great American Irish Festival will be a collection of offerings that might best be described as a sampler platter at your favorite pub - a taste of this, a whiff of that, and the good solid sense of being among friends. Following this year's theme of Music, Poetry and Life: Irish Traditions in America, the weekend of July 27-29 at the GAIF Cultural Building begins with the distinct smell of a peat fire and ends with a Sunday ceili at the crossroads, and for the entire three days visitors can enjoy music workshops, competitive and social dance performances and workshops, Irish Language lessons, food demonstrations, and much, much more.
Returning this July will be such festival favorites as Deirdre McCarthy's "Imaginary Trip to Ireland," the wonderful Dogs of Ireland, workshops by the Irish American Cultural Institute of Central New York, wooden fretwork demonstrations by craftsman Dan Cook, and, of course, the 5th Annual Photo Contest. Dance schools from throughout the region will provide guests with performances of step and social dancing as well as chances to participate in workshops and presentations all three days. And don't miss the Irish teas with all the trimmings by Natalie Spellman on Sunday.
New this year will be a presentation of Irish Zumba dancing, a quilt raffle and accompanying workshops, and a workshop by HCCC instructor Matt Powers on the poetry of the Elders, sure to be a favorite. An outdoor display called "Voice of the Ancestors" will feature verses of early Irish poetry hand painted on seven foot tall banners and another will illustrate the Celtic calendar of thirteen moons and their associated trees. As always the history and heritage of the Irish in the Mohawk Valley/Central New York region will be served by the Identified Sites of Interest interactive display and booth.
All in all, the Cultural Building at this year's Great American Irish Festival will once again have something to appeal to everyone in a comfortable, friendly atmosphere. It will be a true sampler of all that the Great American Irish Festival and the future Cultural Center represent. Check back here later for the full schedule.