Published 21st March 2012

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Irish eyes smile again
Luton’s proud Irish population celebrated the town’s 13th St Patrick’s Festival over the weekend.
Luton Irish Forum held this year’s event between Friday and yesterday, and the annual festival has become a stalwart of the Luton Cultural Calendar bringing Irish music, dance, and drama to the whole of the town.
The festival began with the Launch Night Gaelic Mass at The Holy Ghost Church followed by a dance in the Parish Centre with music by the first-rate Irish country and rock ‘n’ roll band Mustang.
On St Patrick’s Day, which this year fell on Saturday, the community turned out in force for the parade which left Bolton Road and picked up its traditional route through the town centre from 11am.
As well as regulars like the University of Bedfordshire Pipeband, the parade also featured the forum’s ‘Catching the Boat’ pageant.
The pageant is one part of a project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to look at the contribution of the Irish and other communities to the working life of Luton.
Children from three schools took part dressed in costumes to represent the industries that the Irish community worked in, walking behind a float replica of the Princess Maud boat on which so many made their journey over to England.
The Parade finished at Market Hill where the traditional Presentation of Shamrock took place to tunes from the Luton Irish Forum’s Emerald Pipeband.