The Best Of Celtic Dance, Sports, Music And Culture

The Connecticut Irish Festival Returns To North Haven In June

The Connecticut Irish Festival, Feis and Agricultural Fair will once again highlight the best in Celtic dance, sports, music, and culture at the North Haven Fairgrounds on June 21st and 22nd.

The Irish American Community Center presents The Connecticut Irish Festival, Feis (pronounced 'fesh') and Agricultural Fair. The annual festival features a step dancing competition and demonstrations with hundreds of competitors in colorful traditional costumes and a mix of the best traditional and contemporary Irish music, Gaelic Football and hurling games, great food, a 5K-road race to benefit ALS, cultural, agricultural & children's activities, rides, an Irish shopping and craft village, and a lively pub tent. It is very much a family oriented event.

The food booths are always popular at the Connecticut Irish Festival, and this year will be an exciting culinary experience. The Emerald Bakery of Milford will be providing the festival with the finest of Irish baked goods. Breakfast sandwiches consisting of Irish bacon, egg, & cheese will be available both mornings. A Tea House featuring Tea, scones, and soda bread. In addition, there will be an international flavor to the festival with Italian and Thai favorites, as well as summer festival favorites: hot dogs, burgers, chicken, kettle corn, and ice cream.

Talented Irish step dancers from all over the region will take part on both days of the festival. On Saturday, there will be performances by the Mulkerin and Lenihan Schools of Irish dance. On Sunday, hundreds of dancers will participate in a competition that prepares many of them for world-class events. Some of the dancers will come from as far away as Texas, Wisconsin and Canada.

Other Feis competitions on Sunday include an Irish Football match featuring the youngsters from the New Haven Football and Hurling Club taking on their old rivals from Boston. Members of the Celtic Learning Project, dressed in 13th century Celtic garb, will be on hand to tell tales of Celtic lore.

For the sixth year, The Irish American Community Center is presenting the Annual Connecticut Irish Festival 5K Road Race to benefit the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association. A .7-mile kids' fun run at 10:30am on Saturday is followed by the road race and 2-mile fitness walk at 11:00am. Sign-ups for all begin at 9:00 a.m.

The festival will also include children's activities and rides, including games & races, petting zoo, pony rides and agricultural activities such as sheep herding and sheep shearing.