Painting Navan green for St Patrick's Day

Navan Shamrock Festival will celebrate this year's St Patrick's Day with the theme 'A Sea of Green' and the organisers are urging all local businesses and retailers to join in and 'Paint the Town Green'. They are particularly hoping businesses will turn their lights to green to illuminate the town. The festival plans to provide a carnival atmosphere of pageantry, spectacle, music, dance, comedy and family events over a three-day period. It hopes to showcase all that is good about Navan and to send out an uplifting and positive message. The Navan Shamrock Festival is the largest outdoor spectacle event in Navan in 2012 and will begin on Wednesday evening 14th March at the Hill of Tara with the lighting of the festival torch, which will be escorted to Navan Town Hall by members of the Meath Motor Cycle Club. The opening ceremony will be followed by a talk on the 'History of the Traditional Music of County Meath' in the town hall. Other festivities will include the ever popular Quiz in the Stonehouse and the RSA Roadshow which, this year, introduces its exciting new Rollover Simulator. Navan Library will host literary events and there will be a French market at Kennedy Place. There will also be a ceili for the Navan Active Retirement Group and a multi-denominational Service in one of the local churches. St Patrick will arrive by boat to Andy Brennan Park to launch the parade, which takes place at 4pm on St Patrick's Day, Saturday 17th March. The festival will conclude on high note with a fireworks display over the River Boyne, followed by a céilí Mór. Once again, the Canadian Ambassador to ireland and his wife will attend the festival and will be reinforcing their support for the twinning of Navan, Ottawa, with Navan, County Meath. Navan, Ottawa, celebrates its 150th anniversary this year and a large group of locals aim to travel there and join in their celebrations in August. Navan Shamrock Festival has thanked sponsors Navan Town Council for its continuous support in helping the festival to become bigger and better with each passing year. The festival is encouraging other sponsors to join in and harness the power of the festival to promote their brand and enhance their media profile. The festival offers a diverse range of sponsorship. For further information, contact navanshamrockfestival@gmail.com