St Patrick’s Festival Dublin cancels full cultural programme this weekend

The St Patrick's Day parade was already cancelled earlier this week.

St Patrick's Festival Dublin has today announced the full cancellation of its Cultural programme this weekend. Already having cancelled the Paddy's Day parade earlier this week, organisers have now taken the decision to put a stop to all other events this weekend as well. Saying that they are "acting in the best interests of public health and safety", the cultural programme has been cancelled in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus. A statement on the festival website reads: " Our paramount commitment is to the wellbeing of our artists and participants, our audiences and communities and our own Festival team." https://twitter.com/stpatricksfest/status/1238096558840860672 Though extremely disappointing, the decision is in line with the wider actions being taken in response to the constantly changing nature of the global health crisis. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar addressed the media in Washington DC on Thursday morning, announcing the effective lockdown of the country - including the closure of all Irish schools, colleges, cultural institutions and childcare centres from 6pm today. Made up of in-house St Patrick's Festival events, there are also a number of events organised by external partners. While the festival's own events are being cancelled, other events that appear in the programme may still be proceeding. Full refunds will be made on purchased tickets. People are encouraged to contact the relevant event promoter directly to confirm the status of any event not listed on the St Patrick's Festival website.

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