Sept. 20, 2023 By Michael Dorgan
The New York Irish Center will host its annual Queens Irish Heritage Festival on Saturday, Sept. 23, on the Long Island City waterfront.
The festival, now in its third year, will see a range of Irish musicians and dancers perform at Hunters Point South Park to the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline. The event kicks off at 2 p.m. and runs through 5 p.m.
The event will feature Allen Gogarty, an Irish folk balladeer, and Bernadette Fee, an Irish fiddler and step dancer, as well as singer Cathy Maguire and Cillian Vallely, an uilleann piper.
There will also be performances by members of the McManus School of Irish Dance, a Long Island City-based Irish dance school, the New York Studio of Step Dance, a Manhattan-based Irish step dancing school, and the Sunnyside/Maspeth Children’s Trad Sessions.
Meanwhile, players from Shannon Gaels, a College Point-based Irish sports club that formed in Sunnyside, will be showcasing their skills in hurling and Gaelic football.
There will also be free face painting and balloon making for kids.
The event is free to attend and those who pre-register online will be entitled to a 10% discount at “Frank Ottomanelli’s By The Water, a waterfront cafe located near the area’s ferry landing.
The New York Irish Center is an Irish cultural and social services organization located at 1040 Jackson Ave.
