Georgia Bulletin

The Newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta

Roswell

Irish Arts, Music Festival To Be Held Sept. 16

Published September 7, 2006

The Irish Arts Foundation of Atlanta, Inc., in conjunction with the Hibernian Benevolent Society and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Foundation, will sponsor the new Irish Arts festival on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 2-7 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel Roswell/Atlanta.

The festival will feature traditional Irish music as well as dance, visual arts, film, genealogy and theater, along with food and drink. There will be four stages, with other events in the lobby. Fourteen bands from five states will perform traditional Irish music, and workshops will be available to festival-goers for free in the fields of Irish singing, bodhrán and Irish bagpipes. There will also be an exhibit of oil paintings and watercolors by visiting Dublin artist Margret Field. She will be talking about her works and signing her new book entitled “Dublin’s North Coast.” Writer Arthur Flynn, who contributed to the narrative, will be lecturing on Irish dance while local step and ceili dancers will demonstrate and teach Irish dance workshops. Also, for those of Irish heritage, Patricia Jones, author of “Irish in Georgia,” will be assisting patrons with their Irish genealogies.

There will be a screening of the film “The Emerald Diamond,” by independent filmmaker John Fitzgerald, which tells the story of the Irish national baseball team. Much of the success of baseball in Ireland can be attributed to a few baseball-loving Irish-Americans who were determined that baseball could be as popular in their homeland as it is in the United States. The film will show at 3 p.m.

Tickets are available at the door and will be $15 for adults, $10 for students with I.D. and free for children under 10. The hotel is located at 1075 Holcomb Bridge Road, Roswell.

 


For information and a complete program schedule, visit the festival Web site at www.AtlantaIrishMusic.com.