A huge programme of events – including turning Selfridges green – are lined up for Birmingham’s massive St Patrick’s day celebrations.
The city will be flying the flag for Ireland in the week running up to a climax when 85,000 are expected line the streets for the grand procession on Sunday.
Lights will be used to make the exterior of Selfridges at the Bullring shopping centre change from silver to green, and on Sunday at 11.30am Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s Community Choir will take to the balcony of the store to serenade shoppers with traditional Irish songs.
Thousands of revellers are expected to flock to Digbeth and the city centre for the annual St Patrick’s Day Parade on March 17.
Last year saw record crowds with 85,000 people lining the streets to get a glimpse of the colourful procession of floats, musicians, and dancers.
A spokeswoman for not-for-profit organisation St Patrick’s Festival Birmingham, which organises the event, said an even bigger turnout was expected this year.
She said: “This year promises to be extra special as it falls on St Patrick’s Day itself.
“We anticipate huge crowds grow. It’s an emotive thought that in these times of financial uncertainty nothing stops a community demonstrating its devotion to each other and collective spirit of will.”
She said that while the event will promote Irish community, sports, music and dance groups, the parade will also feature people from ethnicities across the world.
“Whilst being unmistakably Irish at the core, the parade increasingly mirrors the fantastic diversity of our ethnicities as we welcome guest appearances from other communities,” she added.
This year’s celebrations will take on the theme of ‘The Gathering Ireland’ and the parade will include the release of hundreds of balloons at 12 noon.
Vanessa Markey, of Tourism Ireland, said: “The theme encourages anyone of Irish descent to pay a visit back home to the county, town and or village of their ancestry.
“One in six British people have an Irish grandparent and over 70 million people around the world claim links with the island of Ireland, so St Patrick’s Day is a truly unique opportunity to reconnect them with their heritage.”
