LAUNCH

The Texas Irish Festival is in its 28th year, and last year, it drew some 60,000 people to Fair Park. It’s the biggest celebration of Celtic culture in Texas. MARSHA SINGER of Forest Hills has been the festival director for the past 10 years.

How did the Texas Irish Festival start?

In 1983, a group of people got together at the Nick Farley Lounge that used to be on Oak Lawn — it’s a Pappadeaux’s now — and they played Celtic music and had a good time. It was billed as the first Texas Celtic festival. And it just kind of blossomed from there. In 1984, it moved to Fair Park, and we’ve been there ever since.

So it grew pretty quickly.

It’s grown dramatically. Texas doesn’t have this gigantic Irish population like Boston or Chicago. It was a bestkept secret, and people really didn’t know very much about Celtic culture. When I first started, they were averaging 10 or 12 thousand people each year. But we’ve tried to expand our media and marketing message in the past 10 years, and last year we had 60,000 people.

What can people expect from the festival?

We have handmade or Celtic-themed arts and crafts. There used to be four stages with live music and performances, and now there are nine. People can learn to play traditional Celtic instruments and learn Celtic dances.

What about kids?

For kids, we have our ‘Urchin Street’, which is not your typical bounce-house type of element. We have art activities that are educational to the Celtic heritage.