Dublin Irish Festival

The Dublin Irish Festival is one of the highlights of summer in Central Ohio. I already here it penciled in on next week's calendar (July 31 to August 2nd). The is all about everything Irish and features a wide variety of Irish music and dance on 7 stages, all varieties of Irish food and drink, Irish crafts, lectures, and tons of Irish merchandise for sale. The Festival attracts over 100,000 to its 3-day run.

My wife and I have attended the Festival 14 of the past 16 years – missing it only for my mother-in-law's 90 birthday party and my dad's unexpected hospitalization. This is something you plan your schedule around – not to be missed. This year we spent a record 11 hours at the Festival – arriving when it opened at 11am and not leaving until after 10pm. We saw a wide variety of Irish music groups – including some old favorites and some new groups we had never heard of before the Festival. I think I personally saw 7 or 8 different groups during the course of the day. And theere is a wide variety of food – not just Irish but all over the spectrum.

Mark your calendars for July 31 to August 2, 2020 – you won't be disappointed.

Had so so much fun during the Dublin Irish Festival this year!! Friday night was full of great music, incredible food booths, and wonderful shopping and events. This is one of my favorite events of every year and I am beyond glad at the schedule for this weekend! It was fabulous, and I stocked up on delicious goodies from an Irish bakery!!

My family and I love the Dublin Irish festival! There is so much fun to have for all ages. Our personal favorite is looking at all the Celtic crafts for sale, Celtic dogs and the Rock stage! Gaelic Storm is one of our favorite performances and we see them every time. We also love the red hot chili pipers. The Irish step dancers are phenomenal and fun to watch too. So much talent and hard work.

The music and entertainment is split up throughout the festival grounds depending on rock, traditional, or step dancing. So if you prefer a more quiet and relaxing entertainment area then the trinity stage is great.

The Dublin Irish festival kicks off on a Thursday night on the first weekend in August with a kids fun run, 5k, then pub crawl. Friday night is our favorite night to attend the festival as it's less crowded and easier to navigate. Parking is free and just a short walk to the festival. Pedicabs are available to take you to and from the festival.

Food and drinks are plentiful at the Dublin Irish festival. Tokens are purchased for soda, water or alcoholic beverages. There are Jameson tastings, Guinness on draft and other drink selections. They even had white claw this year!

We made a wish on the wishing tree, learned about Irish culture and traditions, and saw some pretty awesome musical performances!

Always have a great time at the festival. For a low admission price you get lots of entertainment and cultural events. Add that to lots of good food choices and merchandise vendors and you can easily spend an entire day and not get bored.

If you haven't been to Dublin Irish Festival, you're missing out on a whole lot of fun!

With locally famous and world famous music acts, traditional Irish dancing, spoken word, story telling, vendors of a little bit of everything, Irish dogs, Viking craftsmen, various Druid and Christian worship services, drum lines, bagpipes and more kilts than you can shake a stick at, this festival has something for everyone!

If you're a little Irish, or appreciate the Irish, I highly recommend visiting Dublin Irish Festival next August.

Bring comfortable walking shoes and arrive hungry!

We love this festival and drive up from Cincinnati to attend. There are so many different forms of entertainment that there's something for everyone-traditional Irish music, Celtic rock, spoken word, dancing, crafts. Beer and food are great! We partake in the beer… For us it's beer and music with some dance thrown in. The crowd is great! The heat, not so great, but what else can you expect for the first weekend of August??
This was our first time with our Kindergartner in tow, so it changed our approach. We paid $10 for her to play in playland area all day Saturday. We did it first thing so that she could experience all the inflatables without much line. We went about our day, then went back and the place was PACKED. There were some issues where kids climbed up the inflatable slide, then got scared and wouldn't come back down or slide down. But no one did anything about it. It held up the already long lines unnecessarily because the operator took too long to figure out that he needed to go up there to fetch the kid.

Saturday night the porta potties were in pretty rough shape. They stay on top of then, but after so much use, it's hard to keep up. They were cleaned by Sunday morning.

Definitely check this festival out!

Few well known music acts this year. Vendors selling cheap souvenirs. Not a single local craft beer. Ride share pickup/drop off is a ridiculously long hike from any festival entrance.

The best festival of summer! Amazing music and entertainment; tons of craft and food vendors. Every year, a great time!

2017's 30th DIF celebration was an awesome one! The DIF is always the first weekend in August, which can usually be a hot, humid time. This year was fortunate as the weather cooperated for much of the time.

Tickets at the gate were $15 each day. I bought a three day pass online beforehand for $25. If looking for a single day pass, it is $10 online. You need to buy your tickets before the festival begins for the discounted price. Saturday had the largest crowds. Sunday afternoon was the least crowded. Usually, I visit for a day, but with the terrific weather and some of my favorite Celtic bands, I went for all three days this year.

The festival offers a wide variety of food and drinks. This was the last year where you had to buy drink tokens. You can find a wide variety of food available, from the crab cakes, bahama mama's to more Celtic oriented such as corned beef, shepherd's pie, fish & chips (okay – fries) and there was even haggis! Yes, I had some haggis. It was actually quite mild tasting. The mini-doughnuts were a smash hit.

Many of the same vendors return year after year. Over the years, I look forward to the Irish Bakery, Welsh Cookie Co and the Earthen Craft Pottery. You can find a variety of imported Irish / Celtic wares, arts & crafts and much more to browse around. The vendors have been fun to interact with. There are lots of family and cultural activities available. I love listening to the music and watching the Irish step dancing. The festival brings in some great bands such as Skerryvore, Gaelic Storm and the Prodigals. It is not uncommon to see someone kick off their shoes and have their feet carry them away with some step dancing.

I never watched the Highland games in the past. Usually, it is in an open field where you stand around in the heat. There were bleacher seats with very cooperative weather. It was a lot of fun learning about the games and cheering on the competitors! I definitely look forward to seeing more next time.

Something I commend the festival organizers about is the discount program established with Uber. If you used a discount code (available on the DIF web site) you could get a reduced fare. We saw many folks waiting and taking advantage (thankfully) of the opportunity.

Well done, Dublin! Looking forward to next year!

I really enjoy the Dublin Irish Festival each time I go!

The main reasons we go are for the food and the Irish dancers. Oh, and also the pipe and drum groups.

We had an awesome reuben sandwich, bangers and chips, and a funnel cake!

We enjoyed several performances by pipe and drum groups and Irish dance academies.

My only complaint is that everything is so loud! I always end up plugging my ears at the big stages because the volumes really could be damaging. I thought we sat far enough away from the speakers this year, and it was still a problem, so I'll be trying to remember ear plugs in the future. Even with my ears plugged, I can still hear everything quite well.

I was never big on these sort of events having been to many in different places I have lived. They all were all were crowded, music was too loud and the food was your typical food truck garbage.
Then I checked out the Dublin Irish fest. It's so big that you never feel crowded and it's so big you can pick what kind of music, food and entertainment you like. The Irish dancing, Celtic cultural and food make for a very authentic and fun experience!!

This is more than a festival, it is a small town. The festival has everything! There is a wide variety of food, entertainment, and shopping. The entertainment is everything from watching Irish sporting events to a blacksmith demonstration. It is by far the very best festival that I have ever been to.

I have never been disappointed with the Irish festival in Dublin.

This is a huge affair, apparently the largest Irish festival outside of Ireland.

Pros:

There are large crowds but while everyone is having fun, it is a very well behaved crowd and you don't get overwhelmed. In fact it's great because the chances of running into someone you know is very high. We have always met up with friends at the festival.

The food lines are quite reasonable when say compared to the ribs festival in downtown Columbus.

There is plenty of quality music and you can almost find what you like from the program.

Try the Irish whiskey cake. I highly recommend it!

The entrance is very reasonable.

Cons:

I'm not sure If this is a real negative but the quality of the food trucks are a hit or miss. We have had really great corned beef and mediocre ones too. Same for the Irish stew and the fish and chips.

The beer is a bit expensive ($6) but not bad for a festival.

Overall, the pros significantly outweigh the cons. If you haven't been, I'd definitely give it a try!

This is the second year I've been to the festival and it's been great both times. Good variety of vendors, neat programming and great music.

This year we had VIP tickets for Gaelic Storm Friday night. Our seats weren't great–not close to the stage so we couldn't really see–but we had access to the amazing bathrooms and the VIP bar tent, and were able to move closer to the fence when the higher-prices seats didn't fill. Nice!

The festival lost a star for its token system. The tokens are $2 each, can only be used at the festival beverage tents and can't be traded in if you don't use them all. Complicating things, independent vendors selling drinks take cash, not tokens. I'd love to see the festival move to a more seamless payment system. Earlier this year we attended Bunbury and were super impressed with their new RFID wristband system. All the vendors were equipped with a reader and it was the only payment system. Lines went super fast and it was great to not be fumbling with cash while trying to grab your food and drink and get out of the way. And another suggestion: wristbands for the over 21 crowd so we don't have to keep showing ID every time we buy a drink!

One of my favorite events all year. The kids and adults in my family all look forward to the Irish Festival and we go every year. It is cheap to get in for families and even cheaper if you volunteer or go on Sunday mornings.

I enjoy the craft stalls, food and drink all alike. The crafts are varied from homemade to exquisite to Irish kitsch which means there is a souvenir out there for everyone.

Food options are also extremely diverse ranging from fair food to "traditional" Irish dishes (as much as you can expect from a festival). Just walk around long enough and you will find something good, guaranteed.

Drinks, well, they finally have Guinness. If you came in the past and were disappointed like I was when you couldn't order a pint, come back my friend, it's fixed. You can also get Irish whiskey drinks, most of which are delicious.

Also, there's tons of music and dancing everywhere and giant Irish wolfhounds. Just go already.

Don't miss crossing the bridge from whichever side you are on. There is a lot to see and do if you explore the grounds. Always a big headliner and this year was no exception with the inimitable Sir Richard Thompson! Great food options, good shuttle service, and attentive staff/volunteers make this a safe and wonderful event for the whole family. Expectations exceeded for our first year at this event.

So fun and so much to do!
I never realized how far this festival spans – lots to see and do, plus the bands we heard were a BLAST! Festivals always have great food, but the variety here is probably only second to the State Fair. We participated in the reenactment of founding of Ireland… so interesting and actually not cheesy. Very fun and cool to hear. Beers are $6, which I wish could come down to at least 5. Lines for tokens are LONG, that was my only complaint. We actually lucked into a parking spot closer than expected because I think the earlier crowd had cleared out by our arrival. Expect to walk however if you have to park near the outskirts. I would suggest going later at night if you don't have children with you, when the bands get a little more wild and it cools off outside. Can't wait for next year. I'm going to allow myself about 4 hours instead of just 2!

What a great event! There is plenty of food and so many different events to attend, so many that much of it overlaps so you have to sometimes flip a coin to decide which one to choose.

There are so many vendors selling all things Irish, there is something for everyone.

Food:
Fried pickles from Old Bag of Nails
Bangers and Chips from Highland Glenn Foods
A shortbread cookie from a random vendor selling scones and other sweets.

The shows:
Richens/Timms Academy of Irish Dance
Two2Many
The Academy Irish Dance Company
Shamrock Club Pipes and Drums

Gear festival with lots of entertainment, lots of food choices, and lots of fun! Kids area for the wee ones. Lots of Awesome music. Bagpipes of course. Learning tents, crafts, and clothes. Put on yer kilt and come hang out!

Wow, I can review a festival! Amazing that it took me so long to figure that out! The 2014 version was the first Dublin Irish Festival that I've been to. Majorly impressed! Excellent organization, outstanding slate of performers, and nice, large selection of food, ranging from local restaurant booths, to Irish standards, to small town businesses, to local food trucks. The spacing of the numerous stages generally worked well, and I was impressed with the number and size of the tents that accompanied most stages. The ticketing and shuttle system were efficient and not too lengthy. And a final kudos to the Dublin Rec and Parks folks and other organizers and volunteers for all of their efforts, especially with battling the effects of the rainy day!

I was really expecting more from this event. I have been to our local Celtic Festival here in the small town of Monroe/West Monroe and I can say we do better!

Over priced, long lines and did I say over priced!

I am an SCAer and you the public would do better to stop by one of our events to get a better show/ price and entertainment than this event had to offer!

I did enjoy speaking to some other SCA member merchants. Spending time watching my son in law stand in lines! LOL

This was my 12th year at the Dublin Irish Festival and it is always a fun time!

We moved to the West coast, but we planned a visit so that we could catch the festival. The music (specifically in the Celtic Rock Tent) was not up to par as some previous years, though I will say that the addition of Skerryvore and the Red Hot Chili Pipers did not disappoint. But, bands like Enter the Haggis and Barleyjuice were definitely missed from the line up. I had also hoped that local favorite, Homeland, would have been given a better time slot this year on Friday.

There are plenty of food options, but being vegan, I either had to live on veggie dogs and fries, or go offsite for anything good. There were local food trucks there this year, so it was nice to see those business getting some exposure.

There was a lot of great shopping and this year it seemed like it was spread out a bit more than in previous year. It was not so cramped, so that was a welcome change. There were many vendors offering the same items as others, and several jewelry vendors that had no Irish/Celtic offerings, so I just skipped right over those. I think a better variety with the vendors would be nice.

For a festival that sells so much beer, they need to add more bathrooms. The festival seems to grow by leaps and bounds each year, but they need to add more restrooms as a result. I also find that the bathrooms are typically not well maintained, so be sure to bring your own hand sanitizer, just in case.

All in all, the festival is a great time and as long they keep it up, we will keep coming back.

I've been coming to this festival for years, and this one was pretty good. However it had a few let-downs from previous years…

It was a little marred when we first arrived. We got off of the shuttle bus (which was great btw), to walk up to the gates and hear that the credit card machines are down for the moment, it'll be five minutes to get them fixed. This was at 5pm on Friday, so the festival was already open for an hour. They didn't just go down either, they'd yet to get them working. For the first HOUR the festival was open. My wife and I waited for five minutes, then five more, then still more. Half an hour later the two "tech support" people had not gotten the credit card readers up and running. Now, we could have used cash, though we had brought a limited amount, and yes we could have used the convenient ATM nearby, and been hit with it's fee, and our bank's associated fee, but I really don't feel I should have been punished with those fees because the festival's support crew weren't able to do their job properly and get their tech working on time. I don't think it's too much to ask to have had that stuff up and running and tested BEFORE the festival opened. Instead of being an hour and a half late. I ended up logging into the festival website with my smart-phone, buying tickets online, downloading them to an app and getting in that way. Took me less then two minutes to do that, while "tech support" still couldn't get their readers working.

Now, we're inside, onto the pleasantness…

A lot of the site is the same, year after year, and it's very well put together. It's almost hard to believe that it's just a park every other day of the year. There were also several new merchants and a new kid's play area that all looked really cool.

The food vendor options are pretty varied, and the drinks aren't too expensive. Just about bar level markup. The entertainment for the year was alright, not a lot of names I knew, though I was very sad to not see Gaelic Storm this year. They're one of the primary reasons I've gone to this event for over ten years now, and to not have them was a pretty big let-down. But, as they were booked far out of state all weekend, Dublin Ohio is just out of luck.

Overall it was a good experience, once I was actually able to get into the festival grounds. The weather was good on Friday, once it got a bit later and cooled down. Though I feel bad for the folks that went on Saturday, the weather was just not the best, but not much to do for Ohio's weather after all!

I'll still come back next year, but you can bet I'll be buying my tickets online, and crossing my fingers to see Gaelic Storm back! Seriously, book them now for next year!

Oh- and I was thrilled to see Jamesons FINALLY as a sponsor instead of Bushmils! Thank goodness!

Not my favorite festival. Coming from a SCA family, I love to be in the midst of reenactments. Having a bit of Irish heritage myself, I love Irish music and dance. I expected this to be my new favorite festival.

I have been to every Columbus festival I could over the last year. I haven't had to pay to get into the others. $12 to get into this one. I had to park about twenty miles away (small exaggeration) and the bicycle carriages wanted about $20 to give you a ride.
There was some fantastic live music – 5 stages. The dance was a favorite of my daughter and niece. Bagpipe performances didn't disappoint.

Many of the vendors had quality products with great craftsmanship. Many had jacked up prices. Food smells enticed us to try a few things – all delish.

Bathroom situations were less than ideal.

It's become an annual tradition for our Dublin family. Liked it back in the early years when the 5k run was on Friday night, went through the neighborhoods and finished at the Fest. But the Fest has gotten so big, I guess this wasn't manageable. Fest has lots of good food, cold beer, neat shops (including several kilt vendors) and great music. Definitely a fun event.