For the past 47 years, hundreds of people have traveled to a small town in the Catskill Mountains to celebrate their Irish heritage .
Each Memorial Day weekend, the East Durham Irish Festival attracts people from all over the East Coast. Irish people living in New York escape the chaos of the city and get back in touch with their roots.
Organizer Christine O'Dell said: “It started with the Irish longing for the feeling of home and keeping a camaraderie with each other. They found that here in the Catskills. So the tradition continues with the old and new generations coming together.”
47 years ago, in 1977, local business owners in the Irish village of East Durham, New York, hosted an Irish music festival. They saw the longing among the young Irish in New York for live traditional music and a place to reconnect with their roots .
“It drew the work-weary, homesick Irish out of the heat of the cities, to upstate where the cool mountain air gave them respite and some remembrance of being home,” Christine said.
The festival filled a void for many who had not yet found a place to celebrate their culture among like-minded people in New York. In time, people brought friends and family from different cultures and backgrounds who came to love Irish music and culture, returning year after year.
In 1987, the Michael J Quill Irish Cultural and Sports Centre, a non-profit organization, was formed and took over the role of fostering Irish cultural events, including the festival. Over the years, dedicated individuals have kept the tradition alive and the East Durham Irish Festival has become one of the longest-running Irish festivals in the United States.
This year, the festival will host over 20 performers on three stages, including Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfe Tones and New York band Sheridan Ruitin, who spoke to IrishStar.com last month.
Naturally the festival has evolved over the years, now including a beer garden with an open mic for musicians. It also has an authentic Donegal Cottage, a traditional, rural Irish home that was disassembled in Donegal and shipped to East Durham.
“People can visit us and step back in time to see how the Irish lived,” Christine said. “We’ll burn some turf bricks, have local artisans, open sessions all day in and outside the cottage, and Irish soda bread.”
Christine said the festival will “promote the next generation of keeping the tradition alive in the Irish arts, music , sports, heritage and culture" among younger Irish Americans this year. The East Durham Irish Festival takes place on May 25 and 26.
For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here .
Most Popular
Comments / 0