Column: Broaden the appeal, kick Celtic musicians to the curb
The Roanoke Times | File
There’s an old joke about the Irish that goes like this: How do you get an Irishman up on a roof? Answer: You tell him “the drinks are on the house.”
We might need to retool that two-liner in light of recent eyebrow-raising events surrounding Roanoke’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Shamrock Festival, which this year is March 16.
A handful of rock ‘n’ roll and pop bands have been added to the festival lineup, replacing some (but not all) of the Celtic musicians who’ve been the wildly successful festival’s mainstay for years.
In other words, it will be not as Irish as before, part of an effort by the event’s new management, Downtown Roanoke Inc., to broaden its appeal.
This raises a number of questions. The first is, “Why attempt to broaden it?” Last year’s parade and festival drew 20,000 or so people. Is it even possible to squeeze any more people downtown?
Another is, “For what else should we attempt to broaden the appeal, and how?”
Because unlike St. Patrick’s Day — which over the years has grown from a puny parade into the biggest downtown celebration of all — there are other events that could easily handle increased attendance.
Some wags around town have been having a field day with such prospects.
READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE.
February 24, 2013 - 6:00 AM
this is only about pc.. some are so afraid they might ‘leave somebody out’ or hurt their feelings or someone will come along and say it wasnt diverse or they were offended……oh brother, this is ridiculous at best.
I’m planning on attending the St. Patrick’s Day parade, but if at some point the whole parade doesn’t break into the Harlem Shake, I’m taking my shillelagh and going home.
Country music and its progeny, such as bluegrass, is Celtic in the US. Even rock ‘n roll, as it combines some country with jazz and gospel. A wonderful theme for a music festival at some other time of the year.
Lots of people think that when they get put in charge of something they have to put a big personal stamp on it and change for no reason other than change. If the St. Pat’s festival were floundering, it would mandate changing something. Diversification isn’t always a good thing. If the organizers are doing for PC purposes they should be fired. If they think that the most successful event in the Valley needs fixing, they are incompetent and should be fired. In the unlikely event that they are trying for the broader Celtic-to-modern I talk about above, put them in charge of that festival in any other week of the year.
Dan,
Well put. The missus and I have been to one St Patty;s Day parade in Roanoke. It was a great experssion of community and Celtic pride.
So, of course, it makes all the sense in the world to change it….
I’ve only attended the St. Patrick’s festivities once, which was two years ago, so my opinion may not count for much. However, with that said, I was very disappointed with what I saw. The parade was great, but the festival, if you can call it that, was lacking. I have two kids, at the time one was four, the other, ten, and there were only three activities for them; a viking ship with wooden swords to play on, which held maybe five kids at a time, a bouncy house that was taken down after two hours, and a face painting tent that we stood two hours in line for. The festival had lots of adult things happening though, music and shopping and a great excuse to drink beer before noon. It is because of this experience that I did not attend last year, it just wasn’t fun. Maybe Downtown Inc is just trying to make it more family friendly so people like myself will be more willing to come back out. I really think that this whole thing is being completely blown out of proportion.
Nice satire, but thankfully someone has already stepped up to fill the gap. Corned Beef & Co. is hosting a parallel event on a second stage, with a more traditional lineup. As reported in this very paper, they are working in cooperation with the original DRI festival, so hopefully everything will go smoothly and we’ll end up with the best of both worlds!
Only in Roanoke….”If it ain’t broke, fix it”
As usual, pammala, that was just silly.
Dan – I have to say, I am not a fan of Celtic dancing and most Original Celtic music and I don’t believe that’s what St. Patrick’s Day is about.
St. Patrick’s Day has become a great excuse for the bars to be busy and to party in the streets, but as a Celtic celebration of our ancestry, I have my doubts. To me it’s like fighting to put Christ back in Christmas, too little, too late. St. Patricks Day is a day to throw a huge party, not celebrate our ancient ancestry. Let the party be loud, raucous, and green. Have a prarade and some activities forthe families early and then let the adults have their party in the afternoon and evening. It’s a day for the police to look the other way for all but the actions that would endanger others.
That is St. Patrick’s Day today and that has turned it into the biggest celebration and money maker in Roanoke and many other cities. Have the party and let the sentimental go home to their memories of old.
Keep it Celtic. Period.
Dan -You want something to fail just turn it over to the city leaders, so far they have been doing a GREAT job of being the fun police on everything!
As usual, Roanoke screws up again. Why is it important that this celebration be all inclusive. How about Henry Street and Chinese New Year. Nobody would ever mess with them but it is OK to screw around with the Irish. This is the only city I know who would even think of trying to fix a celebration that does not need fixing. It just shows the ignorance of those with Downtown Roanoke who will cram it down your throat whether you want it or not. Will we now see bagpipes at Henry Street and cloggers on Chinese New Years? Thanks for your article Dan
Apparently, a lot of the musical acts were brought in at the last minute, too. Now I’m worried about Fesitval in the Park. I’ve performed there every year for the past 26 years. When it was well-funded, Festival volunteers contacted performers each January to sign us up. When funding dried up and the festival was scaled back, it was up to us performers to go on the Event Zone website to sign up for a slot. It is nearly March, and there is nothing on DRI’s website about Festival at all. Perhaps it’s been cancelled because of the construction in the park, but if so, they should say so. I hope they aren’t scrambling around trying to recruit us just weeks before the event. Something else that wasn’t broke….
Isn’t the City Manager from Savannah? Doesn’t he have a lot of experience with St. Patrick’s day?
What?
http://blogs.roanoke.com/cutnscratch/2013/02/a-second-celtic-fest-set-for-downtown-march-16/
Aside from the multiple rap groups and rock bands throughout the Historic District entertaining hundreds of thousands, Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day is exclusively Celtic music.
I guess DRI has outsourced the Celtic aspect of St Patricks day to Corned Beef.