What will you do with your extra day?

What are your plans for the long weekend? Here's to hoping it won't be spent fighting over the last protractor in the school supplies aisle. If you need a little something to get you through the last official weekend of summer, try the new Irish flask. VERY handy.

Irish, Scottish, and Celtic fairs, everywhere

Our State Fair is still going strong, but there are a lot of other Irish, Scottish and Celtic festivals going on around the country this weekend—from New York to Montana. Here are the ones we found:

• Rocky Mountain Irish Festival (Fort Collins, CO)
• Kansas City Irish Fest (Kansas City, MO)
• Bitterroot Scottish Irish Festival (Hamilton, MT)
• Hooley on the Hudson (Kingston, NY)

One last blast before school starts?

School is starting for kids in our neighborhood (and our house). We can't believe August is almost over. What happened to the summer?

Irish & Celtic (and other) festivals

Our State Fair starts up this weekend, and our good friends from Irish on Grand will be part of the international bazaar, selling lovely Irish merchandise.

If you're in the area stop by. To be perfectly honest, the Minnesota State Fair is worth the trip, even if you have to fly in. This year there are at least two Irish acts during the fair: The Irish Brigade on the 29th & 30th, and The Willis Clan, also on the 29th & 30th. On the 22nd, O'Shea Irish Dancers will perform as well.

This weekend our friends in Buffalo, Peoria, and Newport all have Irish and Celtic festivals. Will you be going? 

• Buffalo Irish Festival (Buffalo, NY)
• Peoria's Erin Feis (Peoria, IL)
• Newport Celtic Rock Festival (Newport, RI)

Where's the best Irish videos?

We were looking on YouTube for fun Irish videos to share and we didn't come up with a very big list. What are we missing? Can anyone steer us toward some funny or interesting Irish videos?

The blog is back!

The blog is alive again! Thanks for your patience, Irish Rose friends.

August Irish & Celtic festivals

It's August, but festival season is far from over. Last week our town's Irish Fair—also known as the nation's

The Minnesota Irish Fair (photo courtesy the Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band

largest free Irish fair—was going strong. And this weekend it's the Milwaukee Irish Fest. The Irish Rose was part of that great event for over 20 years, and we miss all our friends there. But . . . it is nice here in the air conditioning. :-)

Also, this weekend there are Celtic Festivals in Hunter Mountain, NY and Rock Island, IL. Have fun, everyone, and stay hydrated!

What else is new?

We're happy to announce that The Irish Rose Facebook page is up and running after much procrastination. Please like it! Then you'll be able to take advantage of special deals we promote on Facebook only. Wanna be friends?