The 28th annual North Texas Irish Festival opened its doors at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas Friday, March 5.
Home of the Texas State Fair, Fair Park leased its building for the festival during the weekend in their efforts to showcase one of North Texas’s many faces.
This year, the festival celebrated the importance of animals to the Irish culture, notably the spirit of the horse.
Along with equestrian events, the festival became pet-friendly and allowed attendants to bring their pooches as many animal rescue groups like Metroplex Mutts and the Greyhound Adoption League of Texas enrolled in the festivities.
In effort to show their Irish and Scottish pride, many artisans and performers from around Texas opened booths and connected with their Celtic neighbors.
Sean Klinksiek brought his family to the festival and opened a small booth for his lim
estone masonry near Fair Park’s reflecting pool.
Klinksiek’s wife, Tami, said her husband began carving functional sculptures like coffee mugs and unique wine racks from limestone through his family’s trade.
“He started this five or six years ago. He learned this from his great uncle who’s a master mason,” Klinksiek said.
New businesses surrounded the reflecting pool while familiar faces returned to the festival in hopes of connecting with old friends and possible new customers.
Heather Taylor, founder of Heather’s Vibrant Tantalizing Sensations, sold her handma
de soaps, feathered fans and loomed hats for over 15 years on the renaissance fair circuit and remained an active volunteer at the North Texas Irish Festival for many years before opening her own booth.
After spending years on the festival’s waiting list, Taylor transformed her craft into an online business and purchased an area to present her goods.
“This is my second year. I’ve tried for five years and finally made it in,” Taylor said.
The festival also included musical numbers and dance routines by the North Texas Caledonian Pipes and Drums, the Jackson Irish Dancers and many small local schools devoted to the Scottish and Irish arts.
Danielle Robinson was one of the many aspiring new harpists who performed alongside award-winning harpist Rebekah Passmore on the Urchin Street Stage.
“Rebekah Passmore is my sister, so I grew up playing with the band,” Robinson said. “My sister was my teacher since I was about 15 years old.”
Dancing and singing filled the air as one of the festival’s sponsors, Guiness Beer, provided the merriment for their attendants.
Doug Jacobs, Guiness’s beer coordinator, worked with the festival for over 25 years.
Jacobs joked that he got “suckered into” his position with Guiness Beer after attending the festival as a guest for years.
“It’s like putting the fox in the chicken house, but it works,” Jacobs said.
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