We are well into March at this point and with the March of many seasons, there's always that glimmer of emerald that comes with it.

Here are some of the top events that are sure to keep you entertained this Bank Holiday weekend.

Dublin's St. Patrick's Festival

Patricks-dayPhoto: St. Patrick's Festival Ireland

Here it is - the main event. The big kahunah, if you will. St. Patrick’s Festival kicks off today, Thursday March 14th, and runs over five great days and nights in Dublin City.

Many of the events are free, and includes live music events, poetry and spoken word, visual arts, lots of fun for the family and many more events besides. One of the highlight's of course will be the annual St. Patrick's Day parade which will be taking place on Sunday. Kicking off at 12pm from Parnell Square, the parade will be showcasing some of the best of Irish street-theatre in their 3000-strong participants.

For the full list of events, maps, and ticket prices over the weekend, head over to the festival website here - there's far too many to mention here.

 

 

Galway, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford's St. Patrick's Day parades

st-patricks-festivalPhoto: St. Patrick's Day Festival Ireland

If Dublin's festival isn't your thing this weekend, then you have plenty of other options to choose from around the country. Galway's festival theme this year is diversity; Cork's will involve communities from around the county; Limerick will celebrate the revitalisation of the city; while Waterford will be flying the tri-colour of colour, culture, and community.

 

Kilkenny Tradfest

Taking place from Friday to Monday, Tradheads from around the country will be escaping to Kilkenny Bank Holiday weekend. Acts during Tradfest 2019 include Altan, Cry Monster Cry, KGB, Scullion, Yvonne Casey, and many more. There will also be instrumental workshops, ceilidh sessions, and the Bulmers Music Trail taking place at various locations around the city too. Head over to their website for full details on the festival happenings.

 

Ireland v Wales

Irish-rugby-rte-eirCome on Ireland

This is it - don't get scared now. Ireland have managed to land themselves into quite a pickle in this year's 6 Nations - do we win and let England potentially take the cup, or lose and let Wales win? Whichever way the game goes, it's set to be a cracker. If you're not heading over to Cardiff, the match kicks off on Saturday at 14.45 on Virgin Media One. Last weekend's Ireland V France had plenty of people thirsty for the New Zealand referee.

 

Paddy's Night comic relief

Tommy-tiernan-eventTommy Tiernan

All in aid of a good cause, Dublin's 3Arena are set to host a whopping line-up for St. Patrick's night. Tommy Tiernan, Pat Shortt, Deirdre O’Kane, Neil Delamere, Mario Rosenstock and many more will be coming together for one night only to raise funds for charities tackling homelessness and the refugee crisis. Head over to the 3Arena website for all of the ticket details.

 

 

Nicki Minaj & Juice WRLD

At the time of writing there are still tickets available for Nicki Minaj and Juice WRLD at Dublin's 3Arena on Friday night. The pair are on their European tour, which is part of their 'NICKI WRLD TOUR' and tickets can be found here.

 

Limerick Racing

horse-racingHorse racing

Head on down to Greenmount Park, Patrickswell on Saturday and Sunday from 2pm for a spot of horse racing. The two-day fixture will have seven races, with the features on Sunday being the Dawn Run EBF Mares Novice Chase Grade 2, and the Shannon Spray EBF Mares Novice Hurdle Grade 3.

 

Aslan

25 years after their release of 'Goodbye Charlie Moonhead' Aslan have two sold-out Olympia Theatre dates this Friday and Saturday night. If you're looking for last-minute tickets, keep an eye on #ticketfairy on Twitter in case any become available.