BUFFALO, N.Y. — For our Most Buffalo Story of the Day, we are celebrating Irish culture and heritage with two big events coming up later this week.
On Tuesday morning, we learned more about them from the people in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly.
Get ready for the South Buffalo Irish Festival this weekend. The fun all starts Friday night.
"Friday is the official kick-off to the South Buffalo Irish Festival, and so we are organizing what's called a Culture Circle Friday at the Buffalo Irish Center, and it starts at 6 o'clock. The main event is going to be an Irish Céilí, which is basically like a social group dance, but it's open to beginners, non-dancers, basically anybody who is interested in joining in the fun," said Leah Rankin, Culture Circle Organizer.
There will also be trivia at the bar, and more.
"We're going to have, Guinness is joining us to do their personalized pints where you get a little picture printed onto the foam of your pint of Guinness, but it's mostly just about coming together and celebrating the Irish heritage that, you know, only South Buffalo can do," said Leah Rankin.
Saturday, the South Buffalo Irish Festival will be in full swing at Cazenovia Park from noon until 10 p.m.
"We're going to have Irish food, lots of vendors there, there's going to be Irish dancers, lots of bands playing. We have actually two, three stages. We have a main stage. Two main stages. We have a trad stage that actually takes place inside the casino featuring acoustic bands and traditional Irish music, and then we also have a kids' stage, which takes place in our kids' zone. We're going to have a rock wall, an obstacle course, and various children's performers throughout the day," said Matthew Sperber, South Buffalo Roots Board Member.
South Buffalo Roots is an organization that hosts big music events every year. Johnny Hart books the bands for this festival from all over the country and beyond.
"This year, we're spanning all over from Chicago to Kalamazoo to Montreal in Canada and Rochester, and then obviously we've got really great acts in Buffalo and Western New York as well," said Johnny Hart, South Buffalo Roots Board Member.
It's all a grassroots and community effort. The South Buffalo Irish Festival is free and everyone is invited.
"The community embrace has always been incredible, and we just try to put on a really high quality, top caliber event that's free to the public so anybody and everybody can join," said Johnny Hart.
"As a matter of fact, I'm not Irish. I'm German. So, yeah, come one, come all, you know. Irish culture and Irish music is, can bring joy to so many, and we invite everybody to come out and see what our beautiful neighborhood of South Buffalo has to offer," said Matthew Sperber.