Limerick 4th of July Celebrations

meoklmrk91

So here is a run down thus far of the events planned for the Limerick 4th of July, which is described as a celebration of all things americana. Good few events there, according to a post on Limerick Animal Welfares FB page they have been asked to hold a dog show in Peoples Park, seems to be a few cool events like the Sport Expo and the Twilight Market, a bit of something for everyone, has peaked my interest anyway!


http://4thjulylimerick.com/

Events on 4th of July
Cookie Making - 10:00 am - 11:00 am | 1 Pery Square Hotel | TBC

Sports Celebration @ UL - 11:00 am - 1:00 pm | University of Limerick | Free

Limerick Vibe - 11:00 am - 1:00 pm | Peoples Park | TBC

Irish American Sport Expo - 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm | Thomond Park | TBC

Picnic & Mega Barbecue - 4:00 pm - 10:30 pm | Arthurs Quay Park | TBC

Twilight Market - 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm | Pery Square | TBC

Limerick Regatta - 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm | Shannon River/Arthurs Quay | TBC

American Poetry Night - 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm | Whitehouse Bar | TBC

Live Music/Tribute Band - 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm | Pery Square | TBC

kilburn

Lads fair play to the guys for doing this but please advertise it a bit so it gets coverage, get onto the so called communication office.

Make sure that american flags are put up around town.

Offer free family history to actual american tourists in the city at the time.

New Ross are on the ball with this
http://www.worldirish.com/listening-post/view/first-official-irish-fourth-of-july-celebrations-planned-in-new-ross-1114

There is a Munster or Limerick baseball team not sure which arrange a free game.

Might be an idea to get St Mary's or the Fathers to ring a single bell for a few minutes to signify the ringing of the liberty bell.

Kess73

kilburn wrote: »

Lads fair play to the guys for doing this but please advertise it a bit so it gets coverage, get onto the so called communication office.

Make sure that american flags are put up around town.

Offer free family history to actual american tourists in the city at the time.

New Ross are on the ball with this
http://www.worldirish.com/listening-post/view/first-official-irish-fourth-of-july-celebrations-planned-in-new-ross-1114

There is a Munster or Limerick baseball team not sure which arrange a free game.

Might be an idea to get St Mary's or the Fathers to ring a single bell for a few minutes to signify the ringing of the liberty bell.

Some very good ideas there. Spot on about what they are doing in New Ross as well.


The copying of the ringing of the Liberty bell is a smashing idea.

bigpink

Music in Pery Square sounds great,street party ?

eclectichoney

Some cool stuff there. Twilight Market sounds nice, but eh... what's teh deal with celebrating the 4th of July???

Itsdacraic

eclectichoney wrote: »

Some cool stuff there. Twilight Market sounds nice, but eh... what's teh deal with celebrating the 4th of July???

Fleece the Americans!

meoklmrk91

eclectichoney wrote: »

Some cool stuff there. Twilight Market sounds nice, but eh... what's teh deal with celebrating the 4th of July???

I think the idea behind it is they celebrate Paddys day which is our national holiday so why not support theirs.

eclectichoney

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

I think the idea behind it is they celebrate Paddys day which is our national holiday so why not support theirs.

Thanks, though I don't think any other cities in Ireland do a 4th of July thing which is why I find it a bit strange! Ah well!

Kess73

eclectichoney wrote: »

Thanks, though I don't think any other cities in Ireland do a 4th of July thing which is why I find it a bit strange! Ah well!

Think there are a number of places holding 4th of July celebrations in Ireland this year. Kilburn put up a link to the New Ross one, and I think there is something on in both Galway and Cork.

pigtown

I saw an ad/mention in an article/can't remember, in yesterdays paper claiming Wexford were holding the first 4th of July festival in Ireland this year. Better get the word out before they steal all of the tourists.

Kess73

pigtown wrote: »

I saw an ad/mention in an article/can't remember, in yesterdays paper claiming Wexford were holding the first 4th of July festival in Ireland this year. Better get the word out before they steal all of the tourists.

That is the town of New Ross in Wexford. The organisers there had the smarts to get their festival advertised in the nationals, and they have been running those ads for some weeks now.Shows the difference in ambition and professionalism. A little town like New Ross has people that know to advertise an event at national level in order to bring people in, whereas the Limerick City version might get some advertising in a few free local papers or on the local radio station.

If the Limerick one now tries to advertise itself as being the first ever such event in Ireland, people will have seen the adverts for the New Ross one first and just assume the Limerick one is a copy.


I also see that the midsummer festival starts in Cork this weekend and runs for 11 days and there is talk of a 4th of July festival after the midsummer festival. The Midsummer festival (which has an excellent list of events it must be said) is also being advertised at national level by the organisers and I spotted a tv advert for it today as well.

The organisers of any Limerick event should be taken note of how other twons and cities use the national media to promote events, and do likewise more often.

Sar_Bear

All of those events sound brilliant, would be great if they happend, they really need to get their act together though re advertising, I wouldn't have heard of any of this if I wasn't on boards

SoCo2009

Great to see people trying something different for the city anyway!
Even if there are one or two teething problems this year, they can be improved on for next year!
Fair play to everyone to the people organizing this!

Birdie086

It's a good concept and I hope it works but I think it needs to have been more coordinated, this in happening next week? and yet where I work was only approached yesterday regarding getting involved?? A little late,
I hope they can pull off some kind of event, Riverfest has been a great success for the last 4/5 years and it would be great for our city to have another weekend of note during the summer months

Voy

Birdie086 wrote: »

It's a good concept and I hope it works but I think it needs to have been more coordinated, this in happening next week? and yet where I work was only approached yesterday regarding getting involved?? A little late,
I hope they can pull off some kind of event, Riverfest has been a great success for the last 4/5 years and it would be great for our city to have another weekend of note during the summer months

Is this not all happening on a Wednesday though? Hard to see it being that busy with people having to work that day.

Birdie086

Voy wrote: »

Is this not all happening on a Wednesday though? Hard to see it being that busy with people having to work that day.

According to the rep I dealt with it is to be a week long event but yet she could not give me any specifics??!! I wonder if she was actually genuine or just someone trying to make a quick buck now that I think about it...........

The Snipe

PM me the persons name, and I'll find out for you B.

Birdie086

The Snipe wrote: »

PM me the persons name, and I'll find out for you B.

She only told me her first name, which I forget because it was busy while she was there, heard a piece on the radio yesterday and it does sound like the pack she was selling was legit, so I probably jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Every other week there is someone looking for sponsorship for something, getting a little fed up with it, so hence the negativity on my part.

MrLaurel

Seems to be an awful lot of content in the website without any substance. For example, the Milk Market July 4th special. What pertaining to Independence Day is going on that warrants it's inclusion in the list of events?
Also, the Limerick Races meeting, the Limerick Walking Tour "American Walk" etc etc. Seems to have been an idea cobbled together quickly. What is the budget for the event as there are no posters or advertising.
What is the Route 66 pub trail? What pubs are involved? What are the pubs doing to warrant their inclusion in the festival line up?

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure some very well intentioned people decided to try to do something positive for the City but these days, you're only as good as your last event and putting on a five day "event" is extremely ambitious and could actually do you more harm than good. Especially when Eyre Square is being turned into a American zone for the week of the Volvo Ocean Race with a large party including attendance by the Ambassador. The US Embassy even recruited a Co-ordinator for the event in Galway.
http://dublin.usembassy.gov/job_opps_page/job-opportunities/july-4th-events-coordinator---galway.html

zulutango

True enough, MrLaurel, but to be fair to the organisers, they're probably looking at just getting something started this year on a shoestring which they can build on for 2013 and beyond. Better to start small with a long term view.

MrLaurel

zulutango wrote: »

Better to start small with a long term view.

Putting on a five day event on a "shoestring" (not my words ) is not starting small. Better to have put all your resources into a successful one day event and grow it from there.

zulutango

MrLaurel wrote: »

Putting on a five day event on a "shoestring" (not my words ) is not starting small. Better to have put all your resources into a successful one day event and grow it from there.

The thing is that they are starting small though, even though it's a 5 day event. How and ever, best of luck to them ..

eclectichoney

Aw I see the events seem to have changed from those originally planned? No Twilight Market - 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm | Pery Square | TBC

Ah well I am sure there will be other good stuff.

kiersm

eclectichoney wrote: »

Aw I see the events seem to have changed from those originally planned? No Twilight Market - 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm | Pery Square | TBC

Ah well I am sure there will be other good stuff.

Anyone no if any of the events listed ar happening after all today?

europa11

kiersm wrote: »

Anyone no if any of the events listed ar happening after all today?

Doesn't look like it.......Apart from the ball-hopping!

Happy Fourth of July!

zulutango

Just drove through town and there's plenty of 'stars and stripes' flags around the place. It's a bit cringeworthy. It's not as if we actually want to celebrate Independance Day. We just want the Yankee dollar.

Will be have French flags adorning the city on the 14th? If not, why not?

Kess73

zulutango wrote: »

Just drove through town and there's plenty of 'stars and stripes' flags around the place. It's a bit cringeworthy. It's not as if we actually want to celebrate Independance Day. We just want the Yankee dollar.

Will be have French flags adorning the city on the 14th? If not, why not?

The 3rd of October is the one we should be celebrating in Ireland.

The Snipe

MrLaurel wrote: »

Seems to be an awful lot of content in the website without any substance. For example, the Milk Market July 4th special. What pertaining to Independence Day is going on that warrants it's inclusion in the list of events?
Also, the Limerick Races meeting, the Limerick Walking Tour "American Walk" etc etc. Seems to have been an idea cobbled together quickly. What is the budget for the event as there are no posters or advertising.
What is the Route 66 pub trail? What pubs are involved? What are the pubs doing to warrant their inclusion in the festival line up?

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure some very well intentioned people decided to try to do something positive for the City but these days, you're only as good as your last event and putting on a five day "event" is extremely ambitious and could actually do you more harm than good. Especially when Eyre Square is being turned into a American zone for the week of the Volvo Ocean Race with a large party including attendance by the Ambassador. The US Embassy even recruited a Co-ordinator for the event in Galway.
http://dublin.usembassy.gov/job_opps_page/job-opportunities/july-4th-events-coordinator---galway.html

Few things to note:

The walking tour was an idea from the very beginning, as was the treasure trail (which was proposed by myself, and then improved upon by the committee as a group).

They have 0 budget. No funding. Nothing. They are doing it all with what they can get with sponsorship from retailers etc.

List of pubs on that are involved are on the flyers that went out, (Flyers were late coming out due to late finalisation of what was happening). The pubs warrent being part of it, by decorating the bar in American theme, serving american food/drink and providing American music etc.


As for the Ambassador, he was originally supposed to come to Limerick for this event, however, there was a conflict in his schedule, which has resulted in the Deputy Ambassador coming instead, for part of the festival.

zulutango wrote: »

True enough, MrLaurel, but to be fair to the organisers, they're probably looking at just getting something started this year on a shoestring which they can build on for 2013 and beyond. Better to start small with a long term view.

You hit the nail on the head. When we first started, we were aiming too big. And hence, we have scaled back the event, and spread it out over a number of days, to make our workload easier for each day.

We aim that in a few years, this will be the largest 4th of July Celebration outside of America.


As for why we are doing this? Its a celebration of Irish Americanism, a celebration of what Ireland gave to America and its culture, and a means to celebrate for the large amount of Irish people in Ireland, aswell as an incentive for people to get into the city, and see what it has to offer, especially from Larger American companies, some of which have been a great help.


I can honestly say, being an organiser in this event, it was honestly heartbreaking, and the amount of man hours that went in is beyond belief. You all need to remember, riverfest started out small, and didn't go too well to begin with, but now look at it!

For those who want to see a lineup, or more information, its all on the website: http://4thjulylimerick.com/

There is an American Poetry night in the White House tonight, And great things for families and the likes on all weekend too!

Hope to see some of you around for it!

Any questions that you may have, that I am able to answer, I'll have no problem in doing so.

-Cillian.

meoklmrk91

Fair play Cillian, there is of course somethings to be improved upon but looks like a fantastic effort for the first year and the fact that there was no budget. I will definitely be in to some of the events over the weekend, which will mark the first time I'll have been in the City Centre in a long while, about a year I would say.

The Snipe

Exactly, and we can already see where we went wrong in planning at points, and have fixed some of them, however for others its too late. This is the first year, and it is a whole new idea, and its our first event like this. The excitement and the positivity around the group involved is amazing, and I can honestly say, its a great way to meet new people & Make great friends!


I would highly recommend anyone interested in getting involved in next years event, especially if you feel it could have been done differently and improved! But, I'm saying that all a bit premature, as the festival only started!

DaveNoCheese

Fair play to you Cillian and the rest of the organisers. The schedule looks good, hopefully it'll work out.

Spotted the flyer in centra this morning, tis a pity ye couldn't get them out earlier. Could've been well advertised. As for the flyer itself, well done. Map is a bit confusing if you don't know Limerick but it does look good.