Twin Cities Irish Fest (August 7, 2026)

It was turning into a beautiful night after a dreary and cloudy day, not unlike the weather on the Emerald Isle in which rain can be followed by peaks of sun followed by more clouds and rain.  But based on my weather app downtown St. Paul was in for a stretch of perfect summer weather for a three-day festival.  

In its 46th year the Irish Fair of Minnesota has officially changed its name to Twin Cities Irish Fest.  The reason?  In a busy summer season filled with many outdoor activities, the organizers believe it will “…help new generations of festival-goers more easily recognize where the celebration takes place.”  

Harriet Island is the perfect place to have the festival, a place that allows festival-goers to roam and catch music and dance acts at five different stages, one stage right at the entrance.  It was at the Welcome Stage that  Adrienne O’Shea was singing traditional Irish music, music that she had been learning and playing at a young age growing up in Mendota Heights, MN.  She has even released a solo album Threads of Gold, and she seemed the perfect musician to start the three-day festival.  

I headed over to the Main Stage to get a good spot and I noticed one of the security guards planted in front of the stage.  And the reason I recognized him was he was also at Harriet Island for the Minnesota Yacht Club as well as downtown Minneapolis for Taste of Minnesota.  This was my third sighting of him this summer and he had the same expression for all three: that being a person waiting at the DMV for his number to be called.  I guess for some a music festival is just another day. But it’s not so bad if the supervisor shares some of his mini-donuts.  

Howley promptly took the stage with a “Here we go!”  They are an Irish folk band of two brothers, Martin Howley on banjo and David on guitar and vocals.  They are from Galway and for a time played in We Banjo 3 before moving on.  At first they thought they were just going to be a duo, but wisely decided to add Caitlin Leahy on flute and percussion and Kiana Weber on fiddle.  

Martin said that it was the band’s one-year anniversary and David said they would be playing music from the soon-to-be-released album Joy.  He also said the album will not be available until August 26th, but they had copies (125 to be exact) available for anyone who wanted to meet them at the merch table.  

During their set David said there are three things required of those who attend Irish music shows.  First, they have to stand up and clap.  Second, if able, they should dance.  And third, they have to let out a yip.  He described it like a chihuahua yapping after one to many shots of tequila.  

All three crowd participations were in play when The High Kings took the stage with “Rocky Road to Dublin.”  Immediately their four booming voices created a tribal call for the audience.  

The High Kings are from Dublin and they have traveled everywhere and played for everyone.  They also can lay claim to being direct descendents of The Clancy Brothers for Finbarr Clancy is the son of one of the original members, Bobby. Finbarr even played with the last iteration of the legendary band before forming The High Kings with Darren Holden and Brian Dunphy with their newest member, Paul O’Brien, joining in 2019.  

Between the four they play thirteen musical instruments between them.  Like Howley, they play traditional Irish music.  But If you need help getting out of bed and getting the blood pumping, you will find no better alarm clock than their latest song  “The Irish Roar.”

Throughout the evening the members thanked the festival for inviting them back and the thanks seemed genuine.  The Twin Cities, especially St. Paul has a robust Irish population, and one could see their visit as a reunion.  It was apparent there were many fans.  For “Go Lassie Go” Fibnarr asked the crowd to sing the whole song, which they did with little prompting.  Then “Hey Ho” got everyone clapping, dancing and yipping.  A highlight of the evening was “The Town I Loved So Well” sung by Darren with such somber emotion, you would have never guessed that he has sung it all over the world hundreds and hundreds of times.  

Brian mentioned that they have been playing together for twenty years, and he wondered how much time they have left.  But on the stage in front of an appreciative crowd, you could see these guys playing for twenty more with songs like “Chasing Rainbows” “Connemara Bay” “Irish Pub Song” and “On the One Road.”  

But the evening drew  to a close as Finbarr said they had to be done by 10pm.  

The announcement drew a heavy amount of boos.  

“Hey, it’s not my rule,” Finbarr responded.  “It’s yours.”