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Irish Fall Festival 2012

under takes to the field.” src=”http://irishinphilly.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/fallfestival2012home-300×238.jpg” alt=”Irish Thunder takes to the field.” width=”300″ height=”238″ />

Irish Thunder takes to the field.

The t-shirt you see pretty much everywhere says it all: “What happens in Wildwood, stays in Wildwood.”

Which is not so suggest that the Irish Fall Festival is some kind of South Jersey Irish bacchanal. OK, so there are bars, and let’s face it, there is drinking, but … for the most part the festival is G-rated, with lots of music, dance, endless rows of vendor tables, and enough food to sink a battleship. Think of it as an excuse to wear a ridiculous leprechaun hat. (And pray the guys back at the office don’t see the picture we took of you.)

The 2012 festival, hosted by the Cape May County Ancient Order of Hibernians, lucked into some picture perfect weather, with sparkling blue skies, a gentle caressing wind, and temperatures in the 70s.

Hundreds of Irish folks flocked to the Wildwoods, in the way that swallows return to Capistrano, to take in the Irish pipe band exhibition on Saturday, and the big parade on Sunday.

We have the pics. Maybe you’ll see yourself. And don’t blame us … the hat was your decision.

September 28, 2012 by
News

Wildwood Irish Weekend In Photos

Fun, frivolity and street smooching: It's Irish Weekend 2010.

Fun, frivolity and street smooching: It's Irish Weekend 2010. (Photo by Lisa Marie Hunt)

Another Wildwood Irish Weekend fades into memory—well, for some people, anyway, the ones who can actually remember—but thanks to photographer Lisa Marie Hunt, we have photos that could be placed in evidence should that become necessary.

Lest we forget—this is a fundraiser by the AOH Cape May Div. 1 and they use the money for a variety of charities including the Hibernian Hunger Project, a national campaign to provide food for the needy. So anyway you look at it, it’s a good thing.

Check out Lisa’s photos.

October 1, 2010 by
News

Wildwood Daze 2009

Her name is Erin (of course!). She was one of many festival-goers at the annual pipe band exhibition.

Her name is Erin (of course!). She was one of many festival-goers at the annual pipe band exhibition.

Sun and fluffy clouds. A cool breeze off the beach. A band, one of many Irish bands from the Delaware Valley, pounding out tunes in the music tent. Curly fries and pulled pork. Pitchers of beer. Bagpipe bands circling up and playing in the street. Kids (and not a few older folks) in silly hats and green Mardi Gras beads.

For many of us who have been to the North Wildwood Irish Fall Festival, it was groundhog day. We’d seen it all before, this exhuberant farewell to summer at the shore. Which is not to suggest that it was boring, or anything like it. If anything, this Fall Festival was as fun as ever. It might have been one of the better attended, best organized Fall Festivals the local Hibernians had ever put on. If you were there, you know what we’re talking about. (And you can take off the silly hat now.)

We have a pile of pictures and a video to help you remember the day. (You can remember something, can’t you?)

    • September 30, 2009 by
    News

    What Happens in Wildwood Stays in Wildwood?

    How can she keep from dancing? (Photo by Lisa Carberry)

    How can she keep from dancing? (Photo by Lisa Carberry)

    At 11 in the morning on Sunday, the vendors along New Jersey Avenue were doing brisk business in Guinness hats, Irish drinking team T-shirts, and shiny shamrock beads. The guys who shred spuds for butterfly fries were spinning out mountains of the things—and through the magic of boiling fat, turning them into thin, salty, crunchy chips for the masses. The Wawa at 4th Avenue was peddling plenty of hoagies, coffee and sun block.

    A bar with wide-open windows provided the soundtrack: “Blow My Whistle (Bitch)” by DJ Alligator—a thoroughly unlovely, unsubtle, misogynistic sentiment for a Sunday morning down at the Shore, but really the only discordant note as the last day of the Wildwood Irish Fall Festival otherwise dawned bright and clear. It was a quiet morning down in Anglesey, with the promise of unrestrained, Irish-accented fun in the sun yet to come.

    In a few hours, Paddy’s Well and a whole host of other bands were playing in the music tent. The beer taps were stuck in the open position more or less continuously.

    And the parade finally kicked off down at 24th and Surf, bringing with it pipe bands from every corner of the Delaware Valley and beyond, the Irish American String Band, Reilly Raiders drum and bugle corps, dancers from everywhere, and Ancient Order of Hibernians divisions from Philly and the Shore. A short-sleeved Rev. Rev. William T. McCandless, the grand marshal, led the long procession up to the business end of the festival. The crowds seemed thinner this year than last, particularly at 1st and Central, the dogleg just before the parade turns up Anglesea Drive and into the festival grounds.

    No matter—for all the folks who flock to Wildwood year after year, it was still the best way to end summer.

    We have more photos than we count (thanks to pal Lisa Carberry for all her help) and some videos—including a little treat for Eagles fans.

    September 26, 2008 by
    News

    The Wildwood Irish Fall Festival in Pictures

    You'll run into lots of these guys.

    You'll run into lots of these guys.

    They say that what happens in Wildwood, stays in Wildwood.

    That is, of course, unless we are there with cameras in hand, ready to capture the action.

    If you’ve gone to the Wildwood Irish Festival before, let this get you pumped up for the weekend.

    And if you’ve never been, let this be your sneak preview.

    September 19, 2008 by
    News

    Was It Fun in Wildwood? Shore ‘Nuff!

    Paul Moore pours it on.

    Paul Moore pours it on.

    Exactly how Irish are you?

    In North Wildwood, it came down to a true test of loyalty.

    On stage in the main music tent at the annual Cape May County AOH Irish Fall Festival, Paul Moore and Paddy’s Well were pounding out all the standards. As usual, they sounded pretty wonderful.

    At the same time, the Eagles game  was playing on a big screen off in a corner. You know, the thrilling blowout in which the Birds smacked the Lions around and sent them mewling like cowed little kittens back to Detroit?

    Paddy’s Well or the Eagles? Irish music or football? Hmmmmmmmmm ….

    Seriously? It was no contest. I won’t pretend that some people weren’t paying attention to the on-field heroics of Donovan McNabb and company. (And what was with those nightmarish uniforms? They looked like Mr. Blackwell’s LSD nightmare.) But it was way too hard to resist Moore’s bunch. So hardly anyone bothered. Instead, they crowded ‘round the stage, slurped their beers, sang along, and danced. I seem to remember a lot of unrestrained smiling, too.

    Sunday was also the day of the big festival parade, this year with young singer Timmy Kelly as the grand marshal, along with a visit by those imposing feathery-hooved Budweiser Clydesales. With temps in the mid-80s, a cool offshore breeze and a brilliant blue sky, it was pretty much perfect parade-watching weather. So Surf Avenue was lined with kids and grannies, all decked out in their neon green fuzzy hats and shamrock-shaped sunglasses, and all of them obviously enjoying the pipe bands, the multiple leprechauns, and one of the last, best days at the shore.

    Weren’t there? (Watching the game??? What kind of Mick are you?)

    Check out our photos.

  • Saturday action
  • Sunday’s finale
    • September 25, 2007 by