St. Patrick’s Day on Lanzarote is more than just a terrific afternoon. The atmosphere lasts all week, with many tourists heading over especially for the week leading up to the Saint’s Day. Here’s what’s happening on the island for St. Patrick’s Day.
The celebrations begin on the afternoon of Tuesday the 12th of March with the opening of the Cheltenham Festival. That launches four days of racing action, with seven races each afternoon culminating in the famous Gold Cup on Friday.
Cheltenham has always had a particularly close connection with Ireland, and local bars and pubs will be following the festival closely, screening all the races.
One of those bars will be Maguires on Calle Anzuelo in Puerto del Carmen. Owner Jennie tells us that it’ll be the second Patrick’s Day for the present owners, who took over in December 2022. “We usually open at 12 noon on weekdays, but we’ll be opening 10AM for the festival and showing all the races. Maguires also has live music every night and is bound to be bouncing on St. Patrick’s weekend.
Another bar that’s sure to be full of atmosphere during the week is Nelly’s Bar in the little square of CC Olivín, tucked away just off C/Juan Carlos I in the Old Town. Owner Rebecca says that the racing from Cheltenham will be shown all the week with live music every evening, and all day on the St. Patrick’s weekend.
Nelly’s will also be entering a team into the popular hurling tournament on Playa Grande on Saturday 16th, and like all the other bars officially involved in the St. Patrick’s celebration, Nelly’s will also have a stall open down at the harbour.
One of the powerhouses behind St. Patrick’s Day events on Lanzarote has been Brendan Byrne, landlord of Dicey Reilly’s pub near the Biosfera Shopping Centre.
In previous years Brendan has organized the whole thing virtually single-handed and was the driving force behind last year’s hugely successful event, which brought St. Patrick celebrations back to the island after three years of Covid restrictions.
This year, Brendan’s taking a bit more of a back seat role, but you can guarantee he’ll be round and about, and that Dicey Reilly’s will be as full of craic as always.
Live music is central to the St. Patrick’s experience, and it’ll be going on all afternoon in the Old Town harbour, but most bars and pubs will have their own performers, too. Murphy’s Irish Bar in the CC La Playa on the “Strip” (Avenida de las Playas) is no exception. Jordan tells us that the bar plans to be “busy, busy, busy”, with the racing and live music from Garry Mac, Mick Garry, and Jon Gold in the evenings.
Another hugely important participant in the St. Patrick’s celebrations will be the local council. Mayor José Juan Cruz is now a familiar face at the event, which is an increasingly important event not only for Lanzarote tourist trade, but also in its local community.
Like the Irish, the locals here come from an island that knows all about Saints days and celebrations. They’re keen to support such a vivid, colourful, and good-humoured event and have been for years.
St. Patrick’s Agenda 2024
These are the main events for St. Patricks Day that we’ve been informed of at the time of going to print. You’ll find more up-to date details at www. sanpatrickpuertodelcarmen.com, and don’t forget that every Irish bar on the island will also be having its own events. Just call them up and ask…
Saturday, March 16th
11:00 a.m. – Hurling and Volleyball on the beach of Puerto del Carmen
5:00 p.m. – Pre-St. Patrick’s Day awards ceremony and cultural exchange; with musical performances between local and Irish groups
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. – Celtic Roots performance with Guerma
6:10 p.m. – 7:10 p.m. – Performance by the group Salvascreenlas
7:15 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. – Tribute performance and homage to Tina Turner
8:50 p.m. – 10:20 p.m. – Queen Tribute Performance
10:30 p.m. – 00:00h. – U2 Tribute Performance
Sunday, March 17th
11:00 a.m. – Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes parish
12:35h – Protocol ceremony and flag raising by the representatives of each country.
1:00 p.m. – *St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Avenida Playas from Avenida Italia to Plaza del Varadero
Starting at 1:00 p.m. Live music in the Plaza del Varadero
2:00 p.m. – 2:40 p.m. – Performance by the Irish group Rythm Republic
2:50 p.m. – 3:20 p.m. Performance by Gayle O’Donovan
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Performance by Dessie Hynes
4:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. – Beatriz Senent dance
6:10 p.m. -7:10 p.m. – Performance by The Taverners
7:20 p.m. – 8:20 p.m. – Alegranza Folk
8:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. – (TBC)
9:30 p.m. – 00:00h. – DJ performance
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