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Went to the Irish Festival downtown for this intercultural assignment. I spent well over an hour at this festival because it was actually very enjoyable. From what I’ve been told Irish people are not heavily religious. Me being a Christian, didn’t know how different this experience was going to be or if I would feel uncomfortable or out of the loop. I wanted to avoid those negative feelings so I did some research to be prepared for this experience. Walking through the festival heard loud laughter, clicking of glasses, and footsteps on all the stages. All the people at the gathering were very friendly.
Some were drunk and happy. I don’t think I’ve ever heard such strong accents before. Irish slang is very different from what you hear in Indiana. Some of the words I heard from having casual conversations were fluttered – drunk, fell – male, gas – fun, mot – girlfriend, and many other words that I could not keep up with! The purpose of Irish festivals is for them to celebrate their generations of culture. “All ethnic communities have their “old-country’ traditions that have been passed along for generations. And the Irish know how to celebrate their radiations with passion.
Just within a few minutes of stepping foot into the Irish Festival, all the research I did about Irish heritage reached all my expectations. Drinking is no joke in the Irish community. ” (Frankfort) “In 201 1 (the most recent year for which data is available), the average Irish person aged 15+ drank over 11. 6 liters of pure alcohol. ” I did notice that there seemed to be a lot of underage drinking. Not that I think workers didn’t ID the teens, but a lot of families had pitchers of beer and poured a cup for every member of the family; 21 or not.
I expected to see a lot of drinking because that’s the stereotype of the Irish, and the stereotype seems to be true! I heard music coming from every direction. All the songs were very energetic, but I didn’t hear one song that had words. There were many stages set up for live bands, solo dances, dance competitions, and performance dances. ” Irish dancing or Irish dance is a group of traditional dance forms originating in Ireland which can broadly be divided into social dance and performance dances. Irish social dances can be divided further into c©ill and set dancing.
Irish set dances are quadrilles, danced by four couples arranged in a square, while c©ill dances are danced by varied formations (c©ill) of two to sixteen people. In addition to their formation, there are significant stylistic differences between these two forms of social dance. Irish social dance is a living tradition and variations in particular dances are found across the Irish dancing community; in some places, dances are deliberately modified and new dances are choreographed. ” (Arroyos) Whether people were a part of a band or a member of a dance group, everyone was dancing with enthusiasm.
I’ve never seen so much excitement in someone’s face before. I could tell everybody that participated at the festival had the time of their lives and I was too! The food was incredible! Like I said, I was there for hours so I showed down, and came hungry. Some of the food I had was cabbage and potatoes and Irish stew. Irish stew was my favorite. I complimented the chef and he actually told me a few recipes for the stew. The food wasn’t too different from what normally eat. I think the foods they combine to make a dish is what makes it tasteful. The least important to us So it’s not that it’s unimportant, but it’s the least important o us is religion and spirituality,” she said in a Steamboat video posted to Youth. “2012… Was a tough year for religion. I think with time that is going to change. Religion is still very important, but less so. ” (Messenger) I spoke to a kind lady, Kathleen; I asked her if she minded if I asked her a few questions. I read her the quote that I posted and asked her what she thought about it. She considers herself religious and she said most people with an Irish heritage are Catholic.
Kathleen was born and raised in Ireland, but moved to the states because of her cabana’s job; they both want to stay close with Irish traditions. She mentioned that Ireland was giving up religion faster than any other country. I kept my Christian religion and beliefs out of our conversation, but it’s interesting to know how weak or strong religion is in other countries. I am of Irish, Italian, and Scottish but I am not a strong cultural person and neither is my family. I don’t even have family in the countries Italy, Scotland, or Ireland. Even though Irish is in my “culture” I saw huge differences between the Irish people and my everyday fife.