Get ready to celebrate St Patrick's Day

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Hold on to your hats: revellers are preparing to paint the town green

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As any Irishman will tell you, this Saturday is St Patrick's Day. But there is no need to head across the Irish Sea to enjoy the craic, events celebrating the patron saint of Ireland will be taking place across London.

From classical music and traditional Irish dancing, to cultural walking tours and black tie dinners, ex-pats are planning to paint the capital green.

Cheltenham Gold Cup
Friday 3.15pm
The biggest meeting of the National Hunt season, the Cheltenham Festival is a firm favourite with the Irish. The Gold Cup is its highest profile race, and punters in pubs and betting shops on both sides of the Irish Sea will be glued to TV screens hoping for an Irish winner. The omens are not good though, with French born Kauto Star the short-priced hot-favourite.

Irish Ceili
Friday 7.30pm
If classical music and horse racing isn't your thing, then a traditional Irish ceili might be more up your street. The perfect way to warm-up for the big day, you can dance the night away to cheerful and lively music at the Hammersmith Irish Centre.
Entry £4 (020 8563 8232)

Blue Badge Guide, Irish Luminaries In London
Saturday and Sunday, 10.30am and 2.30pm both days
St Patrick's Day need not be all drinking and dancing, with free walking tours taking in some of the great names in Irish history on offer. Starting at Blackfriars, the tour heads down Fleet Street, along Temple and into Covent Garden, lasting about two hours.
Oscar Wilde's tribulations at Bow Street police station, Michael Collins' night classes on the Strand and W. B. Yeats' quest for a strong drink are all covered by the London Blue Badge Guides.
Starting point: outside Blackfriars tube station exit 1, in front of the Blackfriars pub. No need to book, just show up. Call 020 7263 6235 for details.

Brent's St Patrick's Day
Saturday
The London Borough of Brent always puts on an extravagant show for its large Irish population. This year festivities begin at 10.30am at the Willesden Green Library Centre, where children will be given the chance to make a flag for the upcoming parade.
The parade sets off from nearby Willesden Green tube station at 2pm and features the Dublin All Stars 30-piece marching band. A music stage will also be erected outside the library centre from 2 to 7pm where Irish dancers, comedians, Celtic rock and roll, and folk musicians will all perform.
There is also an exhibition showcasing ten Irish artist's work at the library's gallery, and a market selling traditional food and crafts outside.
www.brent.gov.uk

Mayor's dinner
Saturday 7pm
For a more formal celebration, you could try the London Mayor's annual St Patrick's Day Dinner at the Savoy Hotel. The black tie event includes Guinness and champagne reception, three course meal and entertainment.
Tickets £150 or £1,500 for table of ten. (0207 983 4674)

St Patrick's Day Festival 2007
Sunday
St Patrick's Day may have come and gone, but the fun doesn't stop there with a free day of family fun at some of central London's most famous landmarks. A large stage will be erected at Trafalgar Square, with both contemporary and traditional Irish music and dancing being performed. Not wanting to miss out on the chance of some good self-publicity, an Irish travel exhibition advertising the best Ireland has to offer is also being set up.
Leicester Square is also going green, transformed into an Irish cultural village.
For those in need of a bit of sustenance to help bring that hangover under control, Covent Garden is the place to head. A speciality Irish food market will take over the famous piazza on both Saturday and Sunday, selling gastronomic delights from the Emerald Isle.

St Patrick's Day Parade
Sunday 12noon
London's main St Patrick's Day Parade also takes place, somewhat bizarrely, the day after St Patrick's Day. Featuring marching bands from Britain, Ireland and America, the parade travels from Park Lane to Hyde Park Corner, down Piccadilly and Regent Street via Trafalgar Square, before finishing at Whitehall Place. Street theatre, community groups and sports clubs should help ensure a fun-packed day for all the family.

 

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