NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Irish eyes are smiling all over Gotham as we all prepare, Irish or not, for the wearing of the green.
One way to get ready for St. Patrick’s Day weekend is to see The Taste of Ireland at the Sheen Center. This quintessential Irish tale of storytelling and step dancing is, to some, the ultimate Irish experience and there was lots of Irish Craic in it as well.
“The word craic is actually the word fun in Irish,” Brent Pace, producer Taste of Ireland, told PIX11 News. “We explain it in the performance. It is about having fun with others.”
One audience member, Kate Riehle, who brought her two sons, 7-year-old Finn and 9-year-old Rory, was having a great time.
“We try to go to events like this,” Riehle told PIX11 News. “And I am pretty lucky my dad actually owns an Irish pub, so we get to go visit grand-da,” she added.
More and more people in the United States seem to be getting into the Irish spirit, according to the National Retail Federation. Sixty-two percent of adult Americans or 162 million people will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day weekend, spending $7.2 billion which breaks down to $44.40 per person, most of that being spent on food and drink.
“We’re getting ready for the big day,” Catherine Kenny, a young Irish American, told PIX11 News.
Kenny and others were at Paddy McGuires, festooned with lights both outside and in.
There were at least five thousand green lights which took close to two weeks to string
While some were downing shamrock shots on the eve of Saint Paddy’s, a quartet of Colleens was dressed for the parade and already step dancing in the aisles and talking about their heritage.
“Irish culture, glitter, fun, drinking, smiles, green and gold and grandmothers,” Anna Whitescarver, another Irish American, told PIX11 News as she started to list everything, she loves about bringing Irish.
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