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As Kevin Flanagan sat on the Pub Stage at Syracuse’s Irish Festival, singing sentimental Irish folk standards, Curtis Edwards, an Irish American student at Syracuse University, was singing along wholeheartedly from the audience.

“I got really excited when he was singing because I know all the songs he was singing,” Edwards said. “He was like, ‘I love you’ and I was like, ‘I love you too, Kevin,’ and now we’re soul-bonded.”

This weekend, the Syracuse Irish Festival transformed Clinton Square into a sea of kelly green. Speakers boomed with Irish folk songs as people of all ages, walks of life and cultures enjoyed Irish traditions and customs.

The festival is held annually and is an essential part of Syracuse’s Irish American community. Along with the summer’s St. Patrick’s Irish Festival at Tipperary Hill, a slightly smaller festival hosted by St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s Parish, Syracuse’s Irish Festival reflects the abiding Irish American subculture in central New York.

For Edwards, the festival was an opportunity to connect with his Irish heritage.

“I love this festival,” Edwards said. “I love Irish history. It’s fascinating.”

Flanagan took the stage three times on Friday, playing folk songs like “No Nay Never,” “The Orange and the Green” and “Boston Rose.” The performances were an opportunity for Flanagan to engage with festival goers like Edwards, he said.

Flanagan said he hasn’t always appreciated traditional Irish folk standards, as he preferred classic rock music like Tom Petty and Neil Young in his youth.

“My mother always had Irish music playing in the house,” Flanagan said. “Being a rebellious kid, I was like, ‘I’m going to play in a rock band.’”

Flanagan started playing in bars in Buffalo at 15 years old, met his wife in San Diego, and moved to Syracuse about 20 years ago. After the COVID-19 pandemic, he shifted away from his classic rock repertoire to Irish standards at the suggestion of Lloyd O’Hara, the owner of McCarthy’s Irish Pub in Cazenovia.

“I played one night, and I’ve been getting phone calls ever since. People keep calling me and asking me to play because there’s such a demand for it,” Flanagan said.

Michael Sullivan | Contributing Photographer

The Causeway Giants perform Irish-themed music. Their setlist includes original and cover songs.

Flanagan plays year-round in pubs and Irish festivals in the central New York region, but he said the highlight of his year is the Syracuse Irish Festival. The folk standards he plays tend to draw high audience participation, he said, which adds to the lively atmosphere.

Another performer, the Johnston School of Irish Dance, mixed contemporary music with traditional Irish dance and Celtic folk remixes of songs as ubiquitous as Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and Usher’s “Yeah!”

The unique music and dance style brought many to the festival, including Glenn Wright, executive director of professional and career development in SU’s graduate school. Wright, though not raised Roman Catholic unlike the majority of Irish people, said he has connected to his heritage through music.

Wright came to the festival for The Causeway Giants, a Syracuse-based band formed in 2003 that uses traditional instruments to perform folk and rock music. Wright said he never misses an opportunity to hear the music he loves in-person, which brings him to the festival nearly every year.

The festival hosted a variety of food and beverage options, including Guinness, which was also a sponsor of the festival, Reuben sandwiches with pickles in place of bread slices and local brands like Frank’s Beef Jerky.

Along with food, Ted Greenfield was one of the vendors selling hand-crafted goods. Greenfield is from Chittenango, and his shop, Bayside Wood Products, is based in Bridgeport, NY. Greenfield was thrilled to fit the festival into his schedule this year, as it was good for business.

Laura Travis and Amir Ljuca traveled from Boston for Hermit’s, one of many food trucks in attendance this weekend. Hermit’s is run by one of Travis’ and Ljuca’s high school friends. Travis, who is part Irish, admired the traditions on display at the festival.

“It’s fun to see that side my dad was, but then he kind of rebelled against it,” Travis said. “But it’s fun to see the dancing and the music.”

For Flanagan, this multi-generational and diverse crowd was far from surprising. Irish standards were what he grew up on, and even though he was averse to playing them in his youth, he noticed their ability to bring young and old together in song.

“The Irish are very welcoming and invite everybody in,” Flanagan said.

Published on September 8, 2024 at 11:41 pm