The annual North Texas Irish Festival is back for 2023, returning to Fair Park March 3-5, with music, dance, and culture.

It's one of the largest Irish festivals in the US, with music, dancing, storytelling, chef demonstrations, and more on multiple stages, indoors and outdoors, and it notoriously takes place rain or shine.

Attendees will find Irish-themed beer and whiskey tastings, genealogy research opportunities, animal rescue groups, shopping, child-friendly entertainment, and free arts and crafts for the kids.

“It’s music, it’s food and drink, it’s dance, it’s people connecting with each other,” says Sheri Bush, President of the Southwest Celtic Music Association Inc., the non-profit that produces the festival.

According to a release, the event is produced annually by hundreds of volunteers, some of whom have volunteered for decades, often alongside generations of their families.

Also returning is the North Texas Irish Festival Fun Run, a jaunt through the beautiful grounds of Fair Park on Saturday, March 4, at 8 am. Rgistered participants get a T-shirt, medal, ticket to the North Texas Irish Festival, and two beers after the run if they are of legal drinking age.

Music
Performers include national headliners Sliabh Notes, The Logues, Rory Makem, Moors & McCumber, and Celtic Aire, the premier Celtic and folk ensemble of the U.S. Air Force; and regional performers 5 Second Rule, Behan, Beyond the Pale, Boxing Robin, C. Michael Price, Cleghorn, Colin Urwin, Emerald Accent, GoldRing, Jiggernaut, KinFolk, Plunk Murray, Reel Treble, River Driver, Slugger’s Rule, Sombati, The Selkie Girls, The Whalers, Threadneedle St, Tuatha Dea, Tullamore, Vintage Wildflowers, and Wolf Loescher.

Dance
Participating troupes include The McLane School of Irish Dance, Maguire Academy of Irish Dance, Inishfree School of Irish Dance-Dallas, McTeggart Irish Dancers of North Texas, and the Shandon-O’Regan Irish Dance Academy. Irish step dancers perform on a dedicated dance stage and also with musical performers throughout the festival.

Schedule
The event starts Friday night at 6 pm, and entry is free until 7 pm; after 7 pm, it's $15.

The schedule is as follows:

• Friday March 3, 6-11 pm
• Saturday March 4, 10:30 am-11:30 pm
• Sunday, March 5, 11:30 am-7:30 pm

A one-day ticket is $25 on Saturday or Sunday at the gate, while a weekend pass is $45. Tickets are available online at www.NTIF.org, at Tom Thumb and Albertsons stores, and at the gates on the days of the event.