Mayor Thomas Menino joined Boston residents, including members of the Irish community, to start Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations at City Hall Plaza Saturday.
Menino spent the afternoon talking with locals, as people attending the event enjoyed free food and drinks from local vendors and arts and crafts courtesy of the Children’s Museum of Boston. The food included such Irish favorites as shepherd’s pie, corned beef, soda bread and Boston clam chowder.
“This is part of our External Outreach Program at the museum,” said Lisa O’Brien, arts program manager for the event. “We come to many of the mayor’s events and design different art projects for children ages five and up. With St. Patrick’s Day, we have the kids making hats and Celtic medallions.”
Performers and personalities in the “Enchanted Village,” constructed in City Hall Plaza included a little girl, who started the event by displaying green fingernails and wishing the crowd a happy St. Patrick’s Day, as well as Green O’Leary step dancers and Chuckles, the magician.
The festival attracted thousands of Boston residents throughout the afternoon. Boston University School of Hospitality sophomore Rachael Freedland said she felt very welcomed and enjoyed the music and performances that the celebration had to offer.
“Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day,” Freedland said.
Joseph Sparvara, a civil engineer and resident of South Boston, came to the festival to celebrate the holiday and enjoy the performances with other members of the Boston community.
“I was the first person at the door when they opened,” Sparvara said.
Sparvara, who is of Italian heritage, said he looked forward to the event in order to learn more about Irish culture and to meet other people with whom to celebrate the joy of the holiday.
Sparvara said he cherished the prominence of the human spirit in the interactions between people at the celebration. Sparvara said events such as this one showed how terrorists, such as Osama bin Laden, could not crush the culture of Americans.
“Sept. 11 happened because there is hate out there that wants to take and destroy everything that is beautiful about our culture,” Sparvara said. “To overcome this hate, we need to know our neighbors, we need to talk to one another and we need keep our families together. This is what being a citizen in this country is about.”
Sparvara spent the afternoon giving out St. Patrick’s Day hats to the partying crowd. He also took the time to speak with several young students about his experiences and joy on the holiday.
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