THE Hudson Valley Irish Fest Saturday, September 28, 2019
Main Stage Performers
September 28, 2019
11 am-Noon – Rising of the Moon & Civic Opening of 11th Anniversary Fest
12:15 Pipe Band TBD
12 pm – 2:15 pm The McLean Avenue Band
2:30 pm – 4:30 pm The Cunningham Brothers Band
4:45 pm Tim Murphy performing the Firefighter’s Creed accompanied by our legendary Mass Bands with Pipe Major Joe Brady and John Shaughnessy
5 pm– 6:45 pm The Screaming Orphans
This year were joined by The Screaming Orphans! Four super talented musical sisters from County Donegal are Top 10 Billboard World Charts recording artists and have delighted festival crowds across America. The Screaming Orphans are the 2019 Hudson Valley Irish Fest headliners!
We are delighted to have had crowd favorites, The Cunningham Brothers Band resume rocking the shores of the Hudson, loved by generation after generation, Joe. Jimmy and the band are our own Irish American beach boys!
We love them, and so do you! The McLean Avenue Band were back at the 2019 Hudson Valley Irish Main Stage! Bandleader Padraig Allen hales from County Westmeath and dazzled audiences in The Whole Shabang, The Prodigals, The Dublin City Ramblers, Foster and Allen, The McCabes, The Mickey Finns and HVIF faves Derek Warfield and The Young Wolfe Tones! But come early! Padraig and the band are playing right after Noon!
During intervals on the main stage, our area’s finest Pipe Bands coordinated by John Shaughnessy!
We were joined again by Westchester Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes & Drums, Pipes and Drums of the Police Emerald Society of Westchester, Hudson Highlands Pipes & Drums, Local 21 Pipes and Drums A highlight of the HVIF is America’s Pipemajor Joe Brady & the Hudson Valley Irish Fest Massed Bands.
The 11th Annual Hudson Valley Irish Fest featured performances by several top Irish recording artists and bands, special surprise appearances and featuring Tim Murphy performed the stirring “Firefighter’s Creed.”
Our area’s finest Irish step-dancers, taking the reins from our dear friends Kelly-Oster School of Irish Dance, we welcomed for their HVIF premiere Katie Izzo & Clan na hÉireann School of Irish Dance at Jack McAndrew Memorial Tent and at the Irish Dance tent all day!
The day featured our magnificent Spoken Word Tent with noted Irish American Writers, Poets, and Historians. Tent a curated program coordinated by John Kearns and Irish American Writers & Artists.
On the majestic banks of the Hudson River at Peekskill’s Riverfront Green Park, the Annual Hudson Valley Irish Fest celebrates the positive values of the rich Irish American culture and heritage alive in the Hudson Valley today.
The Fest is a tremendous success and enjoyed by over 3,000 people. This year we promise great bands, more vendors, and fun for the whole family!
Over the years, performances by top Irish recording artists and bands including Jack Lukeman, Mundy, Black 47, Tim Murphy, The Druids, Jameson’s Revenge, McLean Avenue Band, Just 2, Lost Tribe of Donegal, Mary Courtney, the Druids, and Shillelagh Law. Our area’s finest Irish step-dancers from the New York Rose of Tralee Committee, UnaTheresa Gormely, Kelly Oster School of Irish Dance and massed pipe bands entertained people of all ages.
Our excellent vendors and exhibitors provided culinary specialties, Irish literature, media and cultural crafts for all to experience and enjoy. Our children’s area feared 18th Century Toys & Games, face painting, crafts and more for the wee lads and lasses.
In support of the Hudson Valley Irish Center in Peekskill, adjacent to Assumption Church. Our home helps us to preserve the Irish American culture, music, theatre, history, and heritage that abound in the lower Hudson Valley. Proceeds from the Hudson Valley Irish Fest, a not for profit charitable organization, support the Hudson Valley Irish Center as well as the establishment of Irish heritage, literary and media sections in our local libraries. In 2014, through donations of books and material, we established our own Hudson Valley Irish library at the Center.
The “Jack McAndrew Memorial Traditional Tent” with a stellar assembly of the best Traditional Irish Musicians, Singers and Storytellers from the Lower Hudson Valley & beyond. The Kelly Oster School of Irish Dance entertained visitors with their terrific talent. The Jack McAndrew Memorial Traditional Tent has featured authors Maura Mulligan, Ray O’Hanlon, Filmmaker Williams and Rossa Cole, Kevin McCann, storytellers and was joined on our grounds by incredible historical displays from Patrick PJ McHugh.
Jack McAndrew, a lifelong advocate for all things Irish and an AOH Division 18 member, passed away in 2012. Jack kept Irish traditional music alive in the Lower Hudson Valley with the legendary Rising of the Moon Seisuin at the much missed Jimmy Guinan’s in Garrison, PJ Kelly’s in Peekskill, and Stadium Bar & Restaurant and other venues including its new home, The Quiet Man Public House in Downtown Peekskill. Folk hero Pete Seeger has visited the Rising of the Moon Seisuin encouraging others to support Jack’s labor of love. The Jack McAndrew Memorial Traditional Tent and its participants continue this labor of love, the promotion of Irish music and culture in the Lower Hudson Valley.
The Hudson Valley Irish Fest Inc. is cosponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 18, Peekskill & Division 18 Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians and is a member of the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce and is grateful to our patron, The Consulate General of Ireland and a Heritage Grant from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs Emigrant Support Program.
We have been honored each Fest with visits from various Irish Consulate and many elected official, candidates, and government employees who joined us. We thank the Peekskill Police, Fire Department, DPW, Parks & Rec and Office of the City Manager for making our event safe, clean and enjoyable for all.
Each year support form business, great vendors and many other great businesses and individuals like The Quiet Man Public House! More on our sponsors soon.
Thank you, your family and friends for joining us at the 2018 10th Annual Fest on Saturday, September 28, 2019, and hope to see at our upcoming events at the Center!
