2025 Easthampton Parade Marshal Bill Lynch.
Reminder Publishing file photo
EASTHAMPTON — For a four day stretch in September, Easthampton will be the place for all things Irish as the Greater Easthampton St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is celebrating Halfway to Saint Patrick’s Day with some special events.
From Wednesday, Sept. 17 to Saturday, Sept. 20, there will be events and Irish specials in businesses across the city to benefit the parade committee and its work. This year’s Halfway to Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations are part of the Easthampton Irish Festival presented by BankESB.
Committee President Meg Brzezinski told Reminder Publishing this will be the first Irish Festival efforts where the committee is throwing the whole event and in this effort, they are looking to involve the rest of the community and more of the businesses around town.
“Our committee kind of took a hit after COVID. It’s been slow moving and we’ve been trying to think of things that we could do to raise more money. We do scholarships every year and last year, we handed out two $600 scholarships,” said Brzezinski. “A lot of people don’t realize that the money that we do raise, yes some of it goes toward our contingent in the parade, but our biggest thing is the scholarship. We try to raise as much money for that and bringing Irish culture to the community, too.”
The Greater Easthampton St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee works year-round to support Irish culture in Western Mass. The committee fundraises annually to award scholarships to local graduating high school seniors, as well as to represent Easthampton, Southampton and Westhampton in the Holyoke Saint Patrick’s Parade.
Brzezinski added with September being a halfway point to the holiday and a better weather month overall for events and gatherings, the committee figured there was an opportunity this year to connect with the community in support of their efforts.
“We figured something this time of year might just get more people out, see that we can throw a good party and where our money is going towards and then hopefully for March, they’re more likely to come to those events as well,” added Brzezinski.
The celebration kicks off on Sept. 17 when the public is invited to Amy’s Place, located at 80 Cottage St., for the annual Celebrity Bartending event where local community leaders will be on hand, ready to showcase their cocktail making skills behind the bar. All tips earned by the celebrity bartenders will be donated to the parade committee.
This year’s guests will feature 2025 Easthampton Parade Marshal Bill Lynch, state Rep. Homar Gomez (D-Easthampton) and more, and the three candidates for the upcoming mayoral election have all been asked to join as well.
“We’ve got a lot of different people so it’s kind of like those people bring their people and it makes the event a fun night to mingle,” said Brzezinski.
Closing out the celebrations will be the Halfway to Saint Patrick’s Day concert on Sept. 20 at Marigold Theater. The show will feature Irish music from two acclaimed groups as headlining the evening is Sláinte. The six-piece-folk-rock band is based out of Boston and is making a stop to Western Mass., bringing their upbeat arrangements of classic Irish songs to help close out the celebrations.
Opening the show will be The Corner Boys, a Holyoke trio who’ve perform traditional Irish music. Tickets will start at only $10 and can be purchased at marigold.org. Brzezinski said 70% of the proceeds from the concert will be donated to the committee.
“We thought it would be really cool to have both of them and it just makes the event that much bigger,” added Brzezinski.
On Thursday, Sept. 18 and Friday, Sept. 19, a handful of businesses across town will have a QR code in their establishment where people will be able to donate directly during the Irish Festival celebrations. Some businesses will also include Irish themed items for sale including Nini’s selling Irish soda bread, Mt. Tom’s Homemade Ice Cream featuring Irish themed flavors, and Abandoned Building Brewery hosting an event featuring Irish music at 6 p.m. on Sept. 18.
“We just want it to be something that everyone sees and gets involved in and not necessarily asking for these businesses to donate money, but just to sort of come up with something creative for this event,” said Brzezinski.
Brezinski added she hopes the community comes to check out the events and happenings over the upcoming four-day slate to support the efforts of the committee and celebrate the Irish culture.
“Bringing Irish culture to the community is huge. It’s a nice way to put it out there, and as far as the halfway marker goes, this is kind of when we start to pick up speed and really focus in on the next six months which goes by so quickly so hopefully the start of this can help us gain momentum and we hit our marker,” said Brzezinski. “I think it’s a good way to get the community involved this time of year and spread word about our committee.”
For more information on the upcoming Irish Festival celebrations, visit the Greater Easthampton St. Patrick’s Day Committee Facebook page.
