A chairde, friends,
March already…..what happened to the winter! And march it is… time for the St Patrick’s Day parade and this year our parade and St Patrick’s Day are actually on the same day! So paint your mother-in-law green (you can tell her it is an old required Irish tradition) and drag her and the rest of your family out and join us in Oslo for our yearly celebration. In Oslo you are very much part of the parade and not just a spectator, so put on some colour, get out your unicycle or your stilts and your green satin flares or your real or false beards/pearls. It is not every day you have an opportunity to march down Norway’s main street and frighten the natives, with good humour, a happy face, and inane greenosity.

Start Point
The parade starting point, will beJernbanetorget (i.e. outside Oslo S). Please arrive as early as possible.

Start Time :
The parade will start at1 pm sharp (very very sharp!) . We would like all participants to arrive as soon as possible at the start point, preferably up to 30 mins beforehand (give you a chance to chat anyway). so that we can organise the march order which we intend to follow as rigorously as possible,  If you should arrive late you are still very welcome to join the parade at the back  or as instructed by the marshals. You can also join us at Universitetsplass.

Colour
We want as many as possible to join the parade and we want it to be as colourful as possible. Those of you who have county flags, city flags etc , please bring them along, little and large leprechauns and shillelagh jugglers also welcome. We dont care if people are black, white, yellow or pink as long as they are green (however if you are green with inflamed red spots maybe its best you stay home in bed).

On St Patrick’s Day you don’t have to have an Irish passport to be Irish , so we welcome people of any nationality to come march with us, as long as they are prepared to be Irish for the day (well 2 hours anyway).  We encourage you to bring along Norwegian friends and non-Norwegian friends as we want as many happy faces as possible. In fact this year it is intended to set a world record (yes a real live Guinness World Record) in participation in St Patrick’s Day celebrations worldwide. So do your bit since the parade this year is on the actual day itself, and show that there is life and energy in the Irish still, and celebrate simultaneously with Irish throughout the world. From Lindesnes to Nordkapp, if you can, come along for the craic.

Grand Marshal
One of the things that makes life easier for the Irish abroad is that many of our cultural expressions are so popular in many other countries so we always have a taste of home. This has long included Irish music and Irish song, but more recently also traditional Irish dancing. This year’s Grand Marshall is Hilde Juul who has been central in popularising and promoting Irish dance in Norway. Hilde is a champion dancer, runs her own Irish dance school in Oslo, has created and performed in many shows with an Irish theme, regularly takes dancing groups on courses to Ireland, and arranges the Nordic Irish Dance Championships. She has been a long time supporter of Irish cultural events in Norway.

Hard Rock Cafe

While the people of Ireland are about to choose between a rock and a hard place in a referendum, we in Oslo get to choose both, ala Ole Brumm. Following on from last year we have again allied ourselves with one of our sponsors, the Hard Rock Cafe (2 minutes walk from Universitetsplassen) and they have set aside an area for us upstairs after the parade finishes (approx 14.15). If you wish to go there you will need to book a table beforehand by email to oslo@hardrockcafe.no  or calling 4000 6260 and making reference that this is part of the NIS arrangement on the 17th March.

We don’t know how many will avail of this offer, so book early to be sure.

Hard Rock are giving some discount on their meals, and some friendly drink prices (on Irish drinks)

We will also hold a raffle there.

We appreciate that some may opt for the traditional crowded pub and of course we are also in favour of supporting our other sponsors but in the course of a long day, both options are possible to experience. We understand that the Dubliner will also show the big rugby game.

Motto
Our motto : The aim of St Patrick’s Day is to put a smile on the face of the world

So let’s put a smile on the face of Oslo (and ourselves). Join us on the 17^th and let’s hope that the English rugby team has the good grace to lose in an exciting but relatively one-sided and high-scoring match, bearing in mind the day that’s in it.

Remember to follow any developments on our website http://www.irishsociety.no/

Is feider liom, an feidir leat?

le meas, best regards

Conn Fagan
on behalf of the St Patrick’s Day Organising Committee / NIS

St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2012 is sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe, Ringnes, Tourism Ireland, Det Norske Veritas, The Dubliner, The Norwegian-Irish Business Association and Clonakilty Blackpudding.

A chairde, friends,
time to welcome the end of a very long and cold winter (we hope) with some serious celebrating. So come along and march along with us down Oslo’s main street , see a performance of traditional dance, and meet friends and future friends for a good day out…and show there is still life left in the Irish!! Lets see if we can get a good turn out like the one below.

(OK this is actually the opening of the ski VM but the principle is the same…except nobody complains about the cold!!)

Start Point
The parade starting point, will be Jernbanetorget (i.e. outside Oslo S). Please arrive as early as possible.

Start Time :
The parade will start at 1 pm sharp (very sharp!) . We would like all participants to arrive as soon as possible at the start point, preferably up to 30 mins beforehand (give you a chance to chat anyway). so that we can organise the march order which we intend to follow as rigorously as possible,  If you should arrive late you are still very welcome to join the parade at the back or as instructed by the marshals.

Colour
We want as many as possible to join the parade and we want it to be as colourful as possible. Those of you who have county flags , please bring them along, little and large leprechauns and shillelagh jugglers welcome. We dont care if people are black, white, yellow or pink as long as they are green.

Needless to say you dont have to have an Irish passport to be Irish (and indeed you are not necessarily Irish even if you have one as we have seen in the news)  on St Patrick’s Day, so people of any nationality are welcome to march with us, as long as they are prepared to be Irish for the day and meet the minimum requirement to “greenity”.

Grand Marshal
The Norwegian Irish Society has been recently established in Oslo, however it took its inspiration from the activities of our compatriots in Bergen, The Bergen Irish Society was established in 1999 and its Chairman since 2001 has been Eamonn Doyle.

In recognition of his work in promoting Ireland and Irish culture, in contributing to the good relationship between Ireland and Norway, and providing, through the Bergen Irish Society, support to the Irish community in the west of Norway, we have selected Eamonn as this year’s Grand Marshal.

Hard Rock Cafe
Following on from last year we have again allied ourselves with one of our sponsors, the Hard Rock Cafe (2 minutes walk from Universitetsplassen) and they have set aside an area for us upstairs after the parade finishes (approx 14.15). If you wish to go there you will need to book a table beforehand by email to oslo@hardrockcafe.no or calling 4000 6260 and make reference that this is part of the NIS arrangement on the 19^th March.

We dont know how many will avail of this offer, so book early to be sure.

Hard Rock are giving some discount on their meals ,and some friendly drink prices and they will make available their virtual bowling facilities for free on the day. We will also hold a raffle.

We appreciate that some may opt for the traditional crowded pub and of course we are also in favour of supporting our other sponsors but in the course of a long day both options are possible to experience.

Motto
Our motto : The aim of St Patrick’s Day is to put a smile on the face of the world

So lets put a smile on the face of Oslo (and ourselves in these troubled times for Ireland). Join us on the 19th.

Remember to follow any developments on our website http://www.irishsociety.no/

le meas, best regards

Conn Fagan
on behalf of the St Patrick’s Day Organising Committee / NIS

Follow the parade on Facebook.



Program and Route

The Oslo St. Patrick’s Day Committee is pleased to invite you and yours to our St Patrick’s Day parade, on Saturday the 13th of March 2010 at 13.00 sharp. .Starting at Jernbanetorget- ending at Universitetsplassen.

Note that this year we are assembling at and marching from outside Oslo S (Jernbanetorget)
rather than Youngstorget

Dress up and join us for a good day of craic.

Program (12.30 to 13.45)

12.30 – 12.45 Assemble at Jerbanetorget

12.45 – 13.00 Take position in parade line-up (marshals will inform)

13.00 – 13.45 Parade via Karl Johan Gate to Universitetsplass

Note that parade will start at 13.00 sharp

Program at Universitetsplassen 13.45 to 14.30

• Welcome
• Address by Irish Ambassador
• Address by Grand Marshall
• Music from Corps
• Announcements
• National Anthem

Our Sponsors:

Parade starts at Jernbanetorget and ends at Universitetsplassen in Oslo: