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| The Indianapolis Irish
Festival is in its 13th year. The festival is an
opportunity to share Irish heritage through music,
dance, cultural activities, and family fun. The festival
was the vision of a small group of people who wanted to
showcase the heritage, music and culture of the Irish
people and the contributions of that culture to our city
and state. The Irish are the second largest ethnic group
to settle in the Indianapolis area. They have served the
community in the fields of religion, education,
medicine, law, the arts, politics and commerce. |
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Indy’s Irish Festival committee, an
all volunteer 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, was
formed in 1996 to host the first festival. Its mission
is to preserve, promote and nurture Irish culture, arts,
music, and history. The festival has grown
significantly over the years and with it, so has the
festival’s support of charities and community
organizations. Since its inception, the festival has
made donations to or helped community organizations
raise more than $50,000.
Benefiting Organizations
The organizations that have
benefited in the past or are benefiting this year
include:
In addition to the money raised for the various
charities, since 2003, $22,000 has been given directly to students
pursuing further study in the area of Celtic dance,
music, art or history/language. The 2008
recipients will be announced on Sunday, September 21st.
2008 Festival Committee |
| The Irish Festival committee is made up
of dedicated volunteers who work 50 weeks a year in
their spare time to make the festival possible. |
| Terry Sweeney |
Chairman |
| Mary Coffey |
Vice Chair |
| Alice Davis |
Past Chair/Education Outreach |
| John Barry |
Operations |
| Steve Bolden |
Volunteers |
| Linda Caraher |
Cultural Area |
| Mark Caraher |
Operations/Cultural Area |
| Mag Chrapla |
Merchandise Vendors |
| Sean Fahey |
Operations |
| Tim Griffin |
Food Vendors |
| Kristen Hamilton |
Volunteers |
| John Hegarty |
Soccer |
| Laura Hennon |
Children's Area |
| Kenny Hurley |
Operations |
| Chris Kaufman |
Rugby/Friends of Irish Fest/Chamber |
| Anne Kennedy |
Merchandise Vendors |
| Kate Miller |
Education Outreach |
| Kevin Murray |
Legal Counsel |
| Ryan Myers |
Toast Contest |
| John Noone |
Security |
| Tom O'Brien |
Volunteers |
| Julie Cope Saetre |
PR/Media |
| Pete Saetre |
Entertainment/Video |
| Suzanne Sweeney |
Treasurer |
| Julia Wilson |
Children's Area |
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