East Bay city with extremely Irish name marks its 40th St. Patrick's Day festival
DUBLIN -- Saint Patrick's Day is one of the most widely celebrated cultural events in the world and, in the Bay Area, the city of Dublin marked its 40th year commemorating a religious holiday that has become a reason to party
Every year, thousands of people travel to Dublin to celebrate a piece of Celtic history that, it turns out, very few people know much about. The St. Patrick's Day festival in Dublin's Civic Center looks a lot like a county fair, except the kettle corn is green.
"Green's not a color that I wear, typically," said Dublin resident Jeff Johnson. "So, I have to search for something like my custom 49ers green T-shirt."
"I think the dressing up makes it part of the holiday," said his 11-year-old son Zac, sporting a foam shamrock on his head. "Like, that's what makes the holiday."
Meanwhile, Jeff Campbell from Antioch was playing his bagpipes for the crowd. He's 50 percent Irish, which put him about 100 percent more than most of the festival-goers. Campbell's been to the Emerald Isle and he said they're not sure what to make of America's St. Patrick's Day traditions.
"I think most of them shake their heads. Just, like, 'What's up with them?'" he said with a laugh. "No, they don't quite understand it."
But that's OK, according to Lief Sorbye, a member of the Irish rock band Tempest. He said the Irish see themselves as a fun-loving people, always looking for any reason to celebrate.
"It's known as the Irish outlook on life," he said. "But it should be everybody's outlook on life!"
St. Patrick's Day actually commemorates the priest's death, on March 17 in the year 461.
A young video blogger named Days, who was live-streaming the Dublin festival, admitted that it does seem like a peculiar holiday.
"I'll be honest, I don't know much about St. Patrick," he said, shrugging. "All I know -- he's Irish, he probably had a nice big beard. I can't grow one. I envy the guy."
It turns out that St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, wasn't Irish at all. Born to Roman parents, he was abducted at a young age from Britain and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped but later returned as a priest to convert the masses to Christianity. So, the Church made him a saint and even suspended the Lenten ban on alcohol during his feast day. That may be why drinking became such a large part part of this holiday's tradition.
"OK, that makes sense," said festival-goer, Seth Schedtmann. "Hey, celebrate the Catholic saint, right? With a beer! With more than one, probably."
Ivansan Pedro, Dublin's recreation supervisor, said the city wouldn't have it any other way.
"After 40 years of doing this, it's become a staple, you know?" he said. "This is a signature event for the city of Dublin and so we cannot not celebrate St. Patrick's Day!"
It all makes sense to us even if the people in Ireland don't quite know what to make of it.