Following another successful year of the St. Patrick’s Parade in Dublin, most people settle into recovery, and the distant thoughts of next year’s antics. For those working behind the scenes of one of the biggest productions in the city centre, it’s time to start planning next year’s event.
Most people are unaware of the huge amount of time and people it takes to organise such an extravaganza each year, so this week The Circular sat down with CEO & Founder of Just G Events to talk about her time working with St. Patrick’s Festival tirelessly on this famous event in Dublin’s City Centre.
How did you get involved with the production of the St. Patrick’s Festival?
In my third year of college I was tasked with finding myself a 6 month internship. I honestly had no idea what it was I wanted to do so applied to multiple organisations and ended up working with St. Patrick’s Festival from Jan-Jun that year, which led me to experience both peak preparation and wrap around the festival – little did I know this would be the beginning of my career in the events industry.
What does the preparation for the parade involve?
There is a core team that work full time, all year round on the festival. A huge number of contractors, suppliers and volunteers join at different stages in the run up to the parade and festival.
How much work goes into the festival each year?
The general public probably think it’s turned around over night. There is in fact a huge amount of work that goes into the planning of the festival. The core team will begin planning for the 2020 immediately after wrapping this year’s festival.
What was the most daunting part of pulling off the event?
The whole world is watching!
Why do you think thousands of people show up year after year for the parade in Dublin?
St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday that is celebrated all over the world. The parade is the festival’s main spectacle and is watched by an audience far wider than the perimeters of our nation. It’s an annual tradition for a lot of Irish families but also attracts tourists from all over the world. The team behind the festival work so hard with creatives like Bui Bolg and Macnas to showcase incredible Irish talent year on year.
What was your favourite part of working on the event?
The adrenaline you get watching something yourself and a wider team have worked hard to produce come to life is the reason I’m still at it. This is the first year since my internship in 2011 that I haven’t had any involvement in the parade as I’m now focusing on building my own events company. I wish the team the best of luck and know they will nail it as always .
