Dancing in the sun.
It was 84 degrees in the shade at Penn’s Landing—what little shade there is. The sun hammered down on all the happy Irish people in their floppy hats and slick with sweat and Celtic-strength sunblock. Sean Fleming was on stage, the drums and bass pounding, people clapping, cute little kids prancing like ponies in front of the big stage, pleasure boats bobbing like bathtub toys out on the Delaware.
In other words, it was a lot like June in Donegal or Sligo—well, it was like June in Donegal or Sligo will be after about 200 years of global warming.
It was Sunday, a perfect day, even better than the day before, and even though the event was winding down, the waterfront venue was still jammed with Irish-Americans, and lots of other people who might have been Indian, Italian, Japanese—anything but Irish. No matter. For this letter-perfect celebration of Irish culture, anyone who shared in the fun along the Delaware could claim to be as Irish as they wanted to be.
There were certainly plenty of ways to get into the spirit of things—from the cold beer to the lemon and cherry Irish Ice to the goofy shamrock hats and “Irish Princess” babydoll tees for sale
And, of yes, there was music, and plenty of it: Blackthorn, Sean Fleming, 7 Nations, the Bogside Rogues, and so much more.
The whole shebang was hosted by Finnigan’s Wake and the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade Association, and sponsored by PECO and Penn’s Landing Corporation.
Wanna see how much fun we had? Check out the photos.
