Heritage
Click here for the Heritage Stage Schedule
Our Heritage Stage is developed to help you dive head first into the Irish culture. Try to ceili dance, learn about Gaelic Football or play an instrument!
Find Your Own Irish Heritage!
With the help of our in-house genealogy experts, you can find out about your own Irish story. It’s free, fun and fascinating.
KC Irish Fest Heritage Area
Kansas City’s Sea of Green:
See and hear the stories behind our big St. Patrick’s Day Parade
By the early 1870s, it was estimated that nearly 10 percent of Kansas City’s population was from Ireland, or the sons and daughters of Irish immigrants. The presence of the Irish in Kansas City was most conspicuous on the Feast Day of St. Patrick, when thousands of Irish gathered after Mass at St. Patrick’s Church at 8th & Cherry, and proudly paraded through the city sporting their green.
Over the years, the St. Pat’s Parade has served to solidify the local Irish community – and sometimes irk and irritate the rest of the population with its religious overtones and occasionally boisterous revelry. Political and sectarian differences in the 1890s became so tense that the parade was discontinued for more than 75 years. Pat O’Neill and other former and current parade organizers will share the history of the big parade with photos, videos and vignettes featuring many of the parade’s great characters and back stories.
