St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin

Living in the capital of Ireland the week of St. Patrick’s Day begs all kinds of preconceptions about how the Irish celebrate the national holiday. I figured it would be more authentic and traditional than the green-beer-and-leprechaun-hat type partying we know in America. But I never expected men in leotards. Or wheatgrass.
We took Fiona and Myles to the St. Patrick’s Festival in Merrion Square yesterday. We found jugglers, artisan ice cream, carnival rides, vegan raw chocolate cakes, and a couple of Irishmen dressed in leotards doing comedy acrobatics. There were all kinds of free games, like the old-fashioned strong-man contest where you try to bang a heavy hammer down hard on a scale to see how high you can get a sliding weight to rise. Or Myles’ favorite: Stop a greasy rat toy from landing in a bucket of straw. Never heard of that one? Neither had we. Look closely and you can figure it out: That lady slides the furry critter down this chute, and the boys take turns catching it with the wooden club. I was amazed that the food and drinks sold were local independents. Coming from the US, where every last neighborhood art fair is “officially sponsored” by Pepsi-Cola et al., it was refreshing to buy concessions through the window of an eco-bus café.