Irish Italian International Festival – NMB

What do you get if you combine a great party tradition with one of the most popular cuisines in the world? The answer can be found in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in September. Not content with simply hosting the biggest Saint Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival on the Grand Strand, North Myrtle Beach does it again with this eclectic cultural mix, taking place this year on Saturday September 25th , 2021. Come and mark the traditional entry to fall with this wonderfully upbeat festival featuring the best of international food, drink and music, plus a host of competitions and the usual selection of street stalls.

Best Food Contests

There’s a restaurant competition, which sees some of North Myrtle Beach’s finest chefs competing for titles including Best Entrée, Best Decorated, and Best Dessert item. Festival-goers get to enter a spaghetti-eating competition and there’s the usual mix of arts, crafts, music, food and drink that you’d expect from a place as seasoned at putting on festivals as North Myrtle Beach. Of course, there’s a children’s area, where for a nominal fee, kids can enjoy magicians, balloon art creators, inflatable slides, and the like. Jumping fun is promised! The rest of the event has free admission, including the two stages of music set up on Main Street, assorted street entertainers and dance groups plus a chance to wander round the many stalls selling all manner of goods. There are usually over 60 vendors to choose from, including over 20 arts and crafts sellers. Earlier festivals have had carvings from around the world for sale, local painters offering one-off views of the stunning scenery, hand-made jewelry and many other crafts. Naturally, no self-respecting street festival would be complete without a wide selection of food on offer, and you’ll certainly find that here. In previous years the musical selection has encompassed brass bands, pipes and drums and zydeco, so you’re advised to have your dancing shoes on.

The Festival runs from 10am to 4pm, and if you enjoyed the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, this one is in a similar vein and has some of the same participants, meaning you can expect a good time to be had by all 20,000 predicted visitors. In the past, they featured LEGO building contest for kids under 12. I vote the sponsors should let the adults have a try too. There are plans for Irish games, posh shopping and Bocce Ball competitions for the adults, so it sounds as if everyone should be happy.

So, kick off fall in style this year, pay a visit to the Irish Italian International Festival in North Myrtle Beach.

 

1 thought on “Irish Italian International Festival – NMB”

  1. I’m doing a project for school and it is about economic impacts of events their surrounding areas. The event I chose was the Irish Italian Festival and North Myrtle Beach. I was wondering if there was anyone that knew about how much money the festival brings into the city’s economy, and about how many jobs the festival creates

    Thanks

    Reply

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