Last night we held our annual meeting for Dublin Irish Festival Board and Committee members. It was a great night, and we thank the Crowne Plaza Dublin for being such gracious hosts.

Last night was all about celebrating our success, and with a year like 2009, our biggest and best Festival yet, there was a lot to celebrate. You can read about all this year in our 2009 Annual Report.

We also awarded our Best of the Fest Winners & our years of service pins. This year we recognized Tom Murnane, Morton O’Kelly and Sue Mogan for their 20 dedicated years working on the Festival.

We are really working hard already to put together the 2010 Festival, if you would like to join us and work year-round on a Festival committee, contact me directly at aleroy@dublin.oh.us.

With Halloween quickly approaching, our thoughts turn to ghosts and gouls, but did you know many of our Halloween traditions are based on the Celtic festival Samhain?

Many believe Samhain (pronounced /ˈsɑːwɪn/,/ˈsaʊ.ɪn/, or /ˈsaʊn/) was one of the most important festivals in the Celtic calendar – it marks the new year, or the end of summer and the beginning of the winter.

So, while we may be heading into winter, we are still very much thinking about summer here at the DIF headquarters.

Stay tuned – we are about to announce our first round of bands for the 2010 Festival – still working on a few details, and we will have more to announce later, but we didn’t want to keep you waiting too long!

The Wexner Center is bringing what sounds to be a really funny piece of Irish theater to Central Ohio this weekend – Oct. 16 & 17th. The play is Druid Ireland, The Walworth Farce by Enda Walsh. It sounds like it should be a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to seeing it.

Reviews have said it is “a most original talent…swaggers with vitality” (Guardian), and “a theatrical experience that claws at the imagination for days afterwards”(Variety).

Now is your chance to win a pair of tickets to the show. If you aren’t lucky enough to win a pair, you can also buy tickets online at Ticketmaster. Prices are $24 for non-members and $20 for members.

If you aren’t already a member of the Wexner Center – you should really consider joining, it is a great deal and you support one of Central Ohio’s most creative & original organizations.

To win a pair of tickets, become a fan of the Dublin Irish Festival On facebook and post a comment on the contest status update.

Mary Jo DiSalvo and I spent a couple of days last week in Indianapolis for the International Festival and Events Association (IFEA). This is a great time for us to learn from other events and also take some time to pat ourselves on the back for some of the good work we are doing. It will take a while for us to digest all the great information and creative ideas we picked up – but here are our IFEA Pinnacle award winners for this year…

Gold-

• Best Radio Promotion: Move Your Feet!
• Best Sponsor- Wendy’s International

Silver-

• Best Local Television Program: Dublin Irish Festival Unwrapped
• Best Radio Promotion: Mr. O’Casey’s Irish Caber Class
• Best Ad series: Puff Daddy, Fiddle Stix and Beat Box
• Best Invitation: Round Up
• Best New Promotion: Dublin Irish Festival Stout

Bronze-

• Best Television Promotion:  Labored Caber Toss
• Best Individual Sponsor Program: Old Bag of Nails
• Best Other Merchandise:  Little Pot O’Gold Onsie pot o gold

We are especially proud of the awards we share with Wendy’s and Old Bag of Nails. The award recognizes their commitment to the Festival and the Dublin Community as a whole.

Check out one of DIF’s own training future Irish Festival piping stars!

Glenn Mackie, one of our entertainment chairs and his young students was featured in a online video slideshow today at Dispatch.com

Also, read the article here.