Park Theatre to Present Irish Festival

The Jaffrey St. Patrick's Day Parade returns after a two-year hiatus due to Covid. It will now be part of a week of Irish culture and events produced by The Park Theatre in Jaffrey.

The Jaffrey St. Patrick's Day Parade began in 2018 and came back in 2019 with an audience that made it the second-largest St. Pat's parade in the state after Manchester. Sadly, Covid's effects made it necessary to cancel the 2020 and 2021 parades. It is back in 2022 with more bands, floats, marchers, and performers. The parade will start the festival on Saturday, March 12 at 2pm. It commences at St. Patrick's Parish on Main Street in Jaffrey and winds its way downtown and past the theatre. The parade will be broadcast live from 1 to 3pm on radio station WKNE.

The Park Theatre has taken over the management and production of the parade. They have also created The Shamrock Festival, an eight-day festival of music, dance, comedy, speakers, and movies.

On the evening of March 12, Grammy® winner and co-founder of the global sensation, Celtic Woman, Máiréad Nesbitt, will perform with her famous violin along with the Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki Trio. She has enchanted audiences around the world. She is inspired by her passion for music, Celtic Irish Lore, and Ireland's landscapes. Her concert is at 8pm on March 12, and all reserved-seat tickets are $40.

Irish movie classics will be shown at the festival during the week. Titles include, In the Name of The Father, Barry Lyndon, The Butcher Boy, and Michael Collins. All films will be presented in the Eppes Auditorium on the 27-foot widescreen and 17-speaker ultra surround sound.

Ireland's best-selling novelist Olive Collins is flying from Ireland and will discuss her books and have a talkback on Sunday, March 13 at 4pm. After her talk, The Flying Irish Dancers from Ashby, Massachusetts, will perform. Tickets for this combined event are $6.00.

Boston Irish comedian Mike Donovan will headline the Monad Knock-Knock stand-up "green edition" on St. Patrick's Day, Thursday, March 17 at 8pm. Tickets are $12.

The leading traditional band from Ireland, Téada, will perform on Friday, March 18. The band has a truly worldwide reach. Téada has appeared as a frequent headliner at major music festivals throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Africa, Russia, Israel, and Australia. Highlights include a 30,000-capacity stadium concert in Brittany and performances at Rainforest World Music Festival & Penang World Music Festival in Malaysia. They will perform in the Eppes Auditorium at 7:30pm. Reserved tickets are $29, $35 and $39. This concert is sponsored by Grove Street Fiduciary of Peterborough.

The festival ends on Saturday, March 19 at 7:30pm with the Chris Fitz Band from Boston. Chris is the king of blues-rock in New England. This will be a dance concert to accommodate the spirit to dance to Chris' music. The event will utilize the dance floor in the Eppes Auditorium for the first time. All tickets are $20 and it is general admission.

The Shamrock Festival is sponsored by Guinness & Amoskeag Beverage as well as the Monadnock Broadcasting Group. Information and schedules for the festival can be found at theparktheatre.org.

"In our quest to be one of the most dynamic of the new breed of small performing arts centers on the east coast, The Park Theatre is launching a series of franchise events as it marks its sixth month of operation since launching last summer. The first event is the Shamrock Festival week. We will continue with other multi-day events in the future, including the PechaKucha 20X20 storytelling series, NHJazz Festival, BluzeFest, and a comic book convention coproduced with Escape Hatch Books of Jaffrey," said Steve Jackson, CEO, Managing Director of The Park Theatre.

All tickets for events at The Shamrock Festival can be purchased online at theparktheatre.org, via phone (603) 532-8888, or at the theatre box office at 19 Main Street in Jaffrey, NH. Masks are mandatory at all Park Theatre events. The Park Theatre is 95 minutes from downtown Boston.

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