Vankleek Hill’s annual Wee Irish Fest Parade kicks off today (March 17), but this year organizers are putting together a virtual parade of photos and videos from past St. Patrick’s Days, as well as some brand new live music.
Excellent Events is once again hosting this years Wee Irish Fest. The two-day event can be found here on Facebook and runs from St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, through Friday, March 19. Everyone is invited to go to the events page and post photos and memories from past Vankleek Hill Wee Irish Fests.
“We want people to post their photos of past Wee Irish Fests and any videos if they have them,” said organizer Samme Putzel. “I’ll also be posting photos and videos from past parades.”
A live performance by Vankleek Hill’s Neil Emberg of the band Hadrian’s Wall and fiddler Ashley MacLeod will also be featured on the Excellent Events page. Emberg and MacLeod are playing in Ottawa on St. Patrick’s Day and the video of the performance will be posted on the Wee Irish Fest event page on Thursday.
While organizers wanted to hold the parade on Main Street as in past year, Putzel said organizers felt a virtual parade would be a safer choice with the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing.
“We’ll be back next year,” Putzel said. “As long as the community wants it, we’ll do it.”
