17Mar
For years now, Liverpool Irish Festival has coordinated Merseyside’s contribution to #GlobalGreening for St Patrick’s Day.
This year we have linked #GlobalGreening with the Irish Arts Foundation‘s #IrishHistoryMonth. Use these hashtags to learn more on social media: #GlobalGreening #StPatricksDay2023 and #FeilePadraig.
See the film we’ve created showing our glorious buildings:
Environmentalism
This year, we give our focus to environmentalism. As a carbon literate organisation it is important to us that we are not wasting enegery. Lighting cultural buildings green, rather than their standard colour, takes no more energy that in any other colour, but will symbolise both Ireland and the environment. Lighting anything with LEDs costs between 50-70% less that old lighting systems.Can you swap out your old lightbulbs (when they blow) for LED ones?
This year, we welcome onlookers to consider their carbon outputs and whether you could make one change to your life that would help the planet. Due to the carbon footprint of milk, our Artistic Director lowered her cow’s milk intake by seven/eighths and committed to ensuring that all of the Festival’s print -newspapers, posters, printer paper, envelopes, books, postage packaging etc- are as responsibly sourced as possible. She also has meat free days and takes all her soft plastic to the recycling drop offs at the local superstore. What can you do?
Internationalism
#GlobalGreening was originally set up by Tourism Ireland in 2010. It gained international partners, with sites in Sydney, Venice, Milan, Hong Kong and Washington DC and many more. Each celebrates Irish communities across the world. Turning emerald honours the influence, assimilation and impact Ireland has had. It reminds us of the time, effort and labour Irish perople have invested in their ‘found homes’ and the friendships made within their host communities.Following Putin’s acts of war on Ukraine in 2022 – continuing today – Tourism Ireland put #GlobalGreening on hold in 2022. However, in Liverpool there were still many partners that wanted to honour #FeilePadraig and light, in kinship, with those that turned yellow and blue (Ukraine’s national colours). Thus, Liverpool Irish Festival continued to support #GlobalGreening, sharing messages of solidarity with displaced peoples and sharing the night sky with them.
Who was involved in Merseyside?
Each year, at dusk, we set off to capture images of our participating partners, going emerald in honour of St Patrick’s Day. Involved this year are:
- Steve Prescott Bridge
- Liverpool Town Hall
- St George’s Hall
- Cunard Building and British Music Experience
- Port of Liverpool Building
- Radio City/St John’s Beacon
- Edge Hill University
- Greystone Bridge
- The Atkinson, Southport
- The Liverpool Everyman
- World Museum
- Martin Luther King Building (International Slavery Museum, NML)
- Campanile
- The Palm House (post-night-time event)
- Woodside Ventiliation Building
- Shakespeare North Playhouse
- Arena and Coference Centre (ACC)
- Our Lady and St Nicholas Church (Liveprool Parish).
At 00:01AM on Fri 17 Mar 2023 Cristina-Steliana Mihailovici’s St Patrick’s Day poem will go live, here.
Get involved
We welcome you to visit as many of these places as you can and add your images to social media, using our handle @LivIrishFest and hashtag #GlobalGreening. We’ll take photos of each particpating building/structure and create a short film to present soon after the night and post it here (you can see previous year’s films below or you can view the archive of images here). We’ll also post it on Facebook and Twitter, recording a +65-mile round-trip in the process!
We hope you will enjoy seeing these buildings and structures light up in honour of Ireland and its people.
2022’s film
2021’s film
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