Irish community to celebrate St Patrick’s Day 

Lilongwe will join hundreds of cities around the world to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day on March 19.

Every March, Ireland and the world celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, a cultural and religious holiday that dates back to the 9th century and pays homage to the Ireland’s most prominent patron saint.

In Malawi, the celebrations will characterised by Irish traditional dances and a band flying on the way from Ireland to perform on the night of March 19 at the Sunbird Capital Hotel Marquee. The festivities will also include performances from Malawian musicians, according to a statement from the Irish Society.

“Rumour has it that Westlife, a band that wowed patrons last year, will also return to the stage this time around,” says the community’s chairperson Orla Crowe.

However, details of the Malawian artists to perform at the event will be announced soon.

Last year, some of the proceeds of the event went to the Irish Charity Trócaire and provided assistance to the Chikwawa flood victims in Malawi.

The Malawi Irish Society has decided to again donate a considerable portion of the proceeds from the 2016 event to a local organization, Career Guidance.

“Proceeds from the event will be donated to a small Malawian NGO, the Office of Career Guidance, which gives a chance to deserving youths in Malawi to return to school or attend further education. With the help of the money raised at the event, the charity will assist those children who would otherwise not attend school,” Crowe said.

The event is supported financially by FMB, TNM, Ethiopian Airlines, Skyband and Carlsberg.