St. Patrick's Day Parade - Ennis disappointing

graflynn

I've lived in Ennis for 5 years now and I've gone to the parade 4 of those 5. The first two I was really impressed with - lots of colour and lots of children & lots of entertainment.

In recent years I've found that the duration of the parade has gotten shorter and shorter. There usually isn't a lot of music and never any irish dancing or set dancing, something that Clare is famous for and this year there weren't very many floats.

There are a lot more community groups in Ennis than what we saw on Thursday and I'm just wondering why they aren't entering? I know it takes a bit of effort and time but does that really put groups off?

I'm sure the town council would appreciate feedback for next year.

Lady Chatterton

At least the parade was held on Paddy's Day! I remember when I lived in Ennis years ago, the parade was held on the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day to accomodate the councillors who were attending parades in New Yorks and elsewhere.

I think the reason there might not be as many musicians as you would like is that many of them travel to other parades or perform in other concerts and are not available for the Ennis Parade. Trad musicians are in big demand for Paddy's Day so I presume they have to go where the money is.


Some of my family attended the parade this year and they said it was fairly good

omahaid

Ya I actually thought that too. My small one was playing the accordion in the parade and I don't remember any other band (maybe I missed them). It seemed very short this year.

It's still better than others though

Kilnababe

I thought it was rubbish. It's Galway for our family next year. Ennis this year was mainly a procession (short) of 8 year old vans.

babygirlz

I thought it was good tbh. The duration was fine for me as I had 2 under 3's to entertain while it was on.
Of all the Irish dancing schools in the county I didn't see 1 represented in the parade, I was dissappointed with that.

I also hate the huge gap between the groups.

CptSternn

MrsD007 wrote: »

I think the reason there might not be as many musicians as you would like is that many of them travel to other parades or perform in other concerts and are not available for the Ennis Parade. Trad musicians are in big demand for Paddy's Day so I presume they have to go where the money is.

I know many of the local musicians and you are spot on.

What really amazes me is that not that many pubs were open before, during, or after the parade, which also led to the lack of local musicians. They were playing reels from 10 AM in many places, which is where they all were, not here in Ennis.

After the parade there were only a handful of pubs even open. Of the ones open, they had nothing to draw in the people coming from the parade. Seems like a bit of a lost opportunity.

buck65

Thought it was fine, hard to attract the bands etc. as they don't pay them in Ennis unlike Shannon where they do pay the bands and look after the transport costs etc. Most bands if they have to travel will have a load of stuff with them and the costs of busses etc. put them in the red for the day. Hard to justify!
Maybe some will say it's their duty to play but most of these bands and groups are not making money to start with. Think it's unfair tbh.
You get what you pay for.

finbarrk

I was dissapointed with it also. It lacked something. The parades in Kilrush and Kilkee for the last few years were more entertaining.