Exciting Plans for the 2nd Annual Irish Festival

The Canterberries perform at the 1st Annual Excelsior Springs Irish Festival

The Canterberries perform at the 1st Annual Excelsior Springs Irish Festival

Last year was a big learning year for everyone involved in our first annual Irish Festival, but we all have to start some wheresomewhere, right?  It can only get better that’s for sure!  We hope to bring people into Excelsior Springs for the weekend and enjoy not one but 2 days of Irish Fun.  Some of the big changes—

First and most exciting is our Committee is growing! Where last year it was just 5 people working on the whole festival, this year we have expanded our committee so we can focus on multiple things. We’ve got the committees broken down to Vendors/Food, Music/Events, Sponsorships, Kids Activities; Logistics, Volunteers, and Marketing. If you’d love to help in any of these categories, we’d love to have you on our team! Please reach out to Denise Riley at 816-377-2313 and we’ll get you plugged in.

Second, we are going to move the whole festival down to the Amphitheater and the other side of the dam.  Thank you to those who helped us name the hill that goes down to the amphitheater from the winery—we will be working on a sign for it.  Its name is Buzz Kill Hill.  We will have alcohol, vendors, food trucks/tents, and entertainment all down at the amphitheater with parking and entrances at both the winery and the Shamrock Ranch Event space.  This way, we don’t have to close the tasting room down to the public.

Mike Riley greets the audience between sets at the 1st Annual Excelsior Springs Irish Festival

Third, we are going to make it a 2 day2-day event and be done before dark, since lights in the middle of nowhere aren’t as plentiful as the city.  It’ll be from 1P-7P on Saturday, October 4th and 1P-6P on Sunday, October 5th.  This will allow for more music and entertainment as well as offer a fun Sunday outing in Excelsior, when the town is usually closed. We will continue to charge $20 for one day pass or you can get a 2-day pass for $30.00

Fourth, we hope to grow our sponsorships so that we can bring more entertainment and activities to the festival.  If you know of anyone who is interested in being a sponsor for this year’s Irish Festival, please reach out to AnnaSue Spohn

There are four sponsorship levels: 
Pot of Gold – $2500; Emerald – $1500; Shamrock – $1000; and Leprechaun – $500

Finally, we are going to work harder to get more reliable food trucks to give variety and more food.

We are excited for this year’s Irish Fest and are looking forward to bringing more people to Excelsior Springs and bring our community together for a couple of days of Irish Shenanigans!

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