St. Patrick's Day Festival in Hattiesburg, MS

This year in Hattiesburg, MS you can plan to attend the 8^th annual Irish/ Italian Festival to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. The festival is held each year to celebrate St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's feast days. In the Catholic faith, St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland whose feast day is celebrated on March 17^th. St. Joseph is the patron saint of Italy whose feast day is celebrated on March 19^th. The Irish/ Italian Festival is held on the Saturday closest to these days each year. This year, the festival will be held on March 14^th.

The festival will be kicked off by a parade set to start at 10:30 am on March 14^th. The parade will include more than 15 floats and bands, including a piping drum band. The parade route is set to be along 4^th street in Hattiesburg from the 49 service road to the coliseum. Attendees are encouraged to get to the route early and get curb side viewing spaces all along the route. Applications for parade participants are still being taken at this time and there are no fees to enter.

After the conclusion of the parade, the festival will continue at St. Thomas' Catholic Church grounds on 4^th Street behind the USM campus. There will be food and fun for all. Five different bands will be performing throughout the day, including a band that has come all the way from Ireland for the festival. Seisiun, an Irish band, will be performing a 45 minute concert during the festival.

A Celtic Mass will be held from 4 to 5 PM on March 14^th at St. Thomas'. The mass will include both Gaelic and Italian prayers and will conclude with a bagpipe player. All denominations are welcome at this mass and attendance at the mass is not mandatory for enjoying the festival.

The main portion of the festival will run from 5-10:30 PM and is free to the public. Food and beverages, including green beer, will be for sale all evening. There will be a special dinner sale consisting of spaghetti, ham and cabbage along with other sides for only $5. Several other food booths and a baked goods table will also be set up. There will also be a silent auction and a raffle ticket sale. The raffle tickets will cost $20 each and will enter you into a drawing for a 2 week vacation to Ireland or $3000. All proceeds from these sales go back to the church and are then used for the community.

An art show, musical performances and lots of games will also be at the festival. All children's games and activities are free. These will include face painting, getting your picture taken with a leprechaun and more than 10 other booths. There will also be blow up bouncers for the kids.

Kim Busche, coordinator of the festival, told me that they had thousands of people attend the festival last year and are expecting an even larger turn out this year. They are always looking for volunteers to help along the parade route or to help with the festival. To volunteer, or for more information, please check out the website for St. Thomas' church at http://www.stthomas-usm.org/IrishItalian.htm.

NOTICE: After the conclusion of the parade, the festival will not continue until after the end of mass. At 5:30 PM, the festival will continue with fun and games for all.