By The TimesLedger
The Eighth annual Pepsi New York Irish Festival will take place Aug. 16-18 at Belmont Racetrack. TimesLedger newspapers will give out tickets to the opening night extravaganza to randomly selected winners who can answer the following three questions correctly.
The questions
1.) How many counties, including the north, are there in Ireland?
2.) For what famous Irish band did Shane MacGowan sing?
3.) What did Lir turn his wife Aoife into after he discovered what she had done to his children?
The Rules
Winners must have e-mail in by noon Wednesday, Aug. 14. Mailed replies must be received by noon Wednesday, Aug. 14. The TimesLedger is not responsible for lost, late or missing entries. All winners must come to the newspaper offices in Bayside to claim their prize. Entries must include the correct answers to all three questions and a daytime telephone number where entrants can be reached Wednesday afternoon.
Send e-mail entries to rafferty@timesledger.com. Send mail entries to Brian Rafferty, TimesLedger Newspapers, 41-02 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361.
The festival
This 3-day extravaganza draws in as many as 30,000 people who enjoy the day and well into the evening awash in Irish culture. The event takes place on the grounds of the beautiful historic Belmont Race Track on Long Island. Launched in 1995, the festival attracts participants from as far away as California, Toronto and even Ireland.
Founder and General Chairman, Steve Duggan of the famous Paddy Reilly’s Music Bar, said, “It’s amazing how this festival has grown over the years and now with Pepsi’s involvement this year it gives us the wonderful opportunity to expand our festival and broaden its outreach.”
The festival will be launched on Friday night, August 16th , and will present continuous music performances over the weekend by Black 47, The Prodigals, Drop Kick Murphy’s, The McCabes, Finbar Furey, Paddy Reilly and Shillelagh Law, with more acts to be announced in the future. This year’s headlining band The SawDoctors will be rocking the crowd both Friday and Saturday nights.
On Sunday, Aug. 18, The Seventh Annual Eamonn Coghlan 5K Classic Run will start at 10 a.m., attracting top runners who compete for fun and cash prizes. Sponsored by The New York Road Runners Club, it adds another dimension to the Festival as it brings in people of various backgrounds.
On Sunday afternoon The New York City Feis (dance festival) will take place. This Feis (pronounced “fesh”) attracts several thousand competitors including some of the best Irish championship step dancers from around the world. The feis is under the direction of master dancer and instructor, Donny Golden, well known for dancing on stage with The Chieftains. This year it will feature an attempt to set a Guinness World Record by assembling the largest number of step dancers on a floor at the same time.
