By Michael Boriero – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The St. Patrick’s Society of Richmond and Vicinity is presenting its annual Richmond Irish Heritage Festival virtually this year as a result of the pandemic.
The event was cancelled outright last March. According to Patricia Keenan, a member of the festival committee, they managed to have one event, a corn beef supper, before shutting the rest of the activities down out of fear of spreading COVID-19.
She told The Record that the St. Patrick’s Day parade was supposed to be on the weekend. But with the threat of an infectious virus, and an average of 5,000 participants in the parade, the organization decided it was best to avoid large crowds.
“It took a while to get our head around it, but we were not really left with a sensible choice otherwise,” said Keenan.
But this year is different. The organization has had plenty of time to prepare a virtual event, which they plan to spread out over three weeks. The festival begins at 7 p.m. on March 13 with a word from St. Patrick’s Society President Erika Lockwood.
