Luke Jardel of the Hooligans.
Picking up where they left off on March 17, Philly’s Irish celebrated their Irish-ness all day Sunday along the Delaware.
The day began, fittingly, with a celebration of faith—an open-air Mass on the grounds of the Irish Memorial down at Front and Chestnut.
Then the day got decidedly less secular, as hundreds of Irish, both of the genuine and wannabe variety, filled every square inch of Penn’s Landing’s Great Plaza. They came for the food and drink, for the vendors selling hats and t-shirts, and for a day chock full of great local Irish music pumped out from the festival stage by The Hooligans, Blackthorn, and Jamison Celtic Rock.
There was a big birthday bash, too, for former bar owner Emmett Ruane, who celebrated his 75th birthday at the festival. The Hooligans’s Luke Jardel led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday,” and you could tell by the grin on his face that Emmett was happy indeed.
It was muggy—lots of kids wading in the “no wading” fountains—and it rained for a little bit, but nothing was going to slow this party down.
We captured many of the best moments of the day.
Check out the slide show above.
