Ah Irish fest. Loads of cliche Irish food, music, drink, and goods.
But Jason, you dolt, you called this cliche but gave it 4 stars.
It's true that Irish fest is very american-ized and nothing like Ireland at all, but it's still a good time. The music and shows are typically entertaining.
The food is interesting because there's actually very little Irish style food. Where are the boxties, people?? There are BBQ stands and some foods in the style of Irish such as chips, but it all feels a lot like some of the vendors are saying "sure, Irish folks love cheeseburgers...um, please just don't go there to verify"
The beer selection is pretty typical. Guiness, Smithwicks, Harp. Your three staple Irish beers.
Most of the rest of the fest is vendors selling kilts, quirky snack foods from Ireland, jewelry, Irish themed crafts, and 'heritage' stands. If you're looking to get a nice wool Irish sweater without the plane ride to Ireland, this is a good place to get it. The stands all kind of run together after a while as everyone seems to sell basically the same things.
Jason, you say, I'm still not understanding why you gave this 4 stars.
It's all about expectations. If you're coming to this thinking it will supplement an actual trip to Ireland, you're very wrong. If you're coming to this looking for a fairly inexpensive day out in the sun enjoying good music and decent beer, then this is it.
There is nothing wrong with sitting in the shade of a tree, drinking a guiness, listening to Irish style music.
And on the subject of inexpensive, If you come before 11:00am on Sunday with canned goods, you get in for free. read more