Life Is Too Short Not To Be Irish!

As the Irish saying states "Life is too short not to be Irish," and today I did just as this saying suggests by experiencing the Irish life.  This morning I headed to Trafalgar Square with my roommate Catherine and friend Mandi to experience the St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival.  When we first arrived we headed to the center of the Plaza to listen to couple of Irish bands: Xander and the Peace Pirates and The Davitt Showband. 

Fountain in Trafalgar Square

Next, we headed to the edge of the plaza to watch the parade pass by.  It was lots of fun to see all of the bands playing traditional Irish music, enthusiastic crowd members decked out from head to toe in green, white, and orange, and the cool parade floats. 

After the parade, we met up with our friends Katherine and Heidi and headed back to the stage to watch some Irish step dancers from the Delaney School of Irish Dancing.  They were so talented!  It was fun to cheer them on during their performance.

Irish step dancers on stage

In between performances Katherine and Heidi ordered a traditional Guinness from one of the vendors who was walking around with a cooler backpack decked out with a tall flag proclaiming "I sell Guinness." 

Mandi and I enjoyed singing along to the Beatles' hits that were blasting from the speakers while we decided where to go for lunch.  In the end, we decided upon a British pub to warm up and have a delicious meal.

Mandi, Catherine, and I enjoying the live music

Before long we headed back to the crowded square to see a few more performers.

View of the festival

My favorite band of the day was Beoga, a traditional Irish folk band.  They played a lot of great jig music and kept the crowd very excited.  Every time they would start an energetic chorus the crowd would erupt into cheers and begin jumping up and down to the beat.  It was the perfect end to the very Irish experience!