SECOND ANNUAL BIG APPLE FEIS TO KICK OFF ST. PATRICK’S DAY FESTIVITIES IN NEW YORK CITY A WEEKEND LONG CELEBRATION OF IRISH MUSIC & DANCE
St. Patrick's Day is the most wonderful day of the year, and that includes the Stanley Cup playoffs. Of all of the things we love, there is nothing we love more at Whom You Know than being Irish. (Except maybe being Irish and drinking Champagne.) Ireland is the first country Peachy Deegan lived in outside of the United States. She was a student at University College Cork and took great delight in being a sports personality on the radio there with her co-host Des Curran from we think Mallow, Cork. Peachy is competitively Irish. There is a countdown until St. Patrick's day on this website for a very good reason!
As you can see from the pictures to the right, many generations of Deegan girls have celebrated being Irish in Manhattan and Peachy is pleased to be the one doing the honors this year!
MARCH 13 GALA TO HONOR PAUL F. THIELE, MARK HOWARD & GEORGE C. HESLIN
For the second straight year, The Big Apple Feis will take Manhattan from March 12-14 at The Hilton New York at 1335 Avenue of the Americas at 54th Street, jumpstarting St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in New York City. We cannot wait.
Competitions in both music and dance will take place on Saturday March 13, and Sunday March 14. Did you know that once upon a time Peachy Deegan moved to Manhattan to be a banker at Lehman Brothers? Incidentally, although everything at Lehman was in green it was not a match made in heaven and while she was there, Peachy attended Riverdance at a work event, and decided she would learn how to Irish dance from Niall O'Leary, world champion, and one of our Movers and Shakers. Niall is the best Irish dancer in Manhattan, and if you want to learn, you should learn from him. Workshops will be held throughout the weekend in Irish art, song, music and dance. There will be children’s book readings including one by author Brenna Briggs of The Liffey Rivers Irish Dancer Mysteries and a fashion show featuring Irish dancing dresses. Multiple vendors will be on the premises selling Irish crafts and dance supplies.
The opening ceremonies will take place on Friday, March 12 beginning with a Big Apple Irish Idol and a Bachelor & Bachelorette of the Year competition. The Big Apple Feis Gala will take place on Saturday March 13, at The Hilton New York. The cocktail party will run from 6:30pm to 8:00pm and will feature a one hour open bar; an excerpt from a play from the Origin Theatre Company’s Artistic Director George C. Heslin entitled Great White American Teeth by Fiona Walsh; a performance by dancers from The Trinity Academy of Irish Dance; and music by harpist Deirdre Danaher, fiddler Tony DeMarco and Anna Colliton on the bodhrán.
Tickets are $55 per person for the party only. The dinner will take place from 8:00pm to 11:00pm. Tickets for the cocktail party and dinner are $250 per person. Music will be provided by the all-female Irish traditional band Girsa. There will be a full open bar and raffle prizes throughout the evening.
The Gala is being chaired by Loretta Thiele, whose husband Paul F. Thiele was the founder of The Thiele Kaolin Company and a big supporter of Irish cultural organizations and events throughout his lifetime. Several scholarships will be awarded to winners in the Irish dance competitions in his memory. In addition, the Gala will honor two artists who have made significant contributions in their respective disciplines and have furthered Irish culture in the U.S. and abroad: Mark Howard; the Founding Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Trinity Irish Dance Company and the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance; and George C. Heslin; the Founding Artistic Director of the Origin Theatre Company and 1st Irish, the first Irish theatre festival in New York.
