Derry gearing up for massive St Patrick's Day celebrations

Derry is gearing up for a massive day of celebrations today as thousands gather to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

The St Patrick’s Spring Carnival will feature music, dance, food and folklore across the City and District beginning today until Sunday March 19th.

The St Patrick’s Day celebrations will run concurrently with the LegenDerry Food Festival and a host of arts and multi-cultural events including Saturday’sUbuntu Global Festival across three stages in the City centre.

The theme of this year’s festival is Forever Young – a celebration of youthfulness of mind and spirit, the centrepiece of which will be Friday’sSpring Carnival Parades in Derry City and Strabane where over 500 people from community based carnival programmes will perform for thousands of spectators.

Before and after the parades there will be entertainment all afternoon in Waterloo Place.

The LegenDerry Food Festival running from Friday March 17th until Sunday March 19th is a three day celebration of local food.

Chefs, restauranteurs and producers from the local area will showcase their food offering to the public at the event in Guildhall Square from 12 noon until 6pm each day.

The Ubuntu Festival is a one day family orientated multicultural arts celebration and aims to promote global diversity through a colourful display of the wide variety of cultures that exist in the Derry and Strabane area.

The free admission event on Saturday March 18th will be hosted across three venues: The Craft Village, Waterloo Place and Bishop Street and will feature vibrant traditional music and performance, arts and crafts and exhibitions of different cultures.

More information on Council’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations are available atwww.derrystrabane.com/springcarnival.