Vintage Sunday Parade remains a highlight of Offaly festival every year

THE Vintage Sunday parade has been a highlight of Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival since the very start and it still remains a focal point for locals and visitors alike every year.

This year the parade has a new route with a slight change of direction when the parade reaches the top of Main Street.

As usual the parade takes place on Sunday August 4^th with a 3pm start.

Join them for some fantastic family fun with street theatre, floats, vintage cars and more.

John Carroll, who has contributed so much to the community of Birr, will give the Opening Address. Emma Nee Haslam returns as Parade MC.

For Going with the Flow, they have a wonderful community-made river float and a stream of beautiful, ethereal bubbles filling Main Street, thanks to Paris Bubbles.

This year’s winners medals are kindly sponsored by Hollywood’s Garage.

Call For Entries

Whether it's a Vintage Car, a float, a community group to walk in this year's Parade etc, they want to hear from you!

​It will not be possible to accept artic lorries this year, and they apologise for any inconvenience caused.

​This year, they are introducing online registration. Please see birrvintageweek.com for more details and to register. Deadline for online registration is Thursday August 1^st at 5pm.

​As always, it will be possible to register in-person on the morning of the Parade, but they are encouraging as much online as registration as possible.

​For queries: birrvintageweekparade@gmail.com

Accessible Areas

Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival will have Accessible Viewing Areas at the parade for people with additional needs. Space is limited. Access will be by pre-registration only.

For people using wheelchairs, they have reserved areas for you to enjoy the parade. These areas are also suitable for people with reduced mobility, providing you with extra space and comfort. A family member or friend can accompany you in these areas.

They also have a Priority Viewing Area on Green Street. This is suitable for people who need a quieter space to enjoy the parade from.

All of these areas have limited space. If you would like access to any of these areas, please register in advance.

To register, email birrvintageweekparade@gmail.com, or contact the Festival Info Line on (089) 242 4379. They will do their best to find space for everyone who contacts them in advance.

The festival does not have arrangements with any car parks. They can provide information on arrival times and road closures on the day of the event to make your day more enjoyable.

Change To Route

A reminder that the route for the Vintage Sunday Parade on August 4^th is changing. The new route will now turn left at Emmet Square and proceed across Green Street and finish as normal at the Marian Hall.

This means the parade will no longer include Emmet Street.

The change to the route is due to a large increase in costs for the compulsory professionally-delivered traffic management system required for the running of the Parade.

​Chair of Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival, Caroline Conway: “We understand this will be disappointing news, especially for residents of Emmet Street. In recent years, we have been legally required to have a professional traffic management system in place for the Parade. In the past, it was possible to man the diversions needed thanks to our wonderful team of volunteers, but this is no longer possible.”

“Due to the huge costs associated with a professional traffic management system, we need to make this change to the route to ensure we can continue to deliver one of the festival highlights every year moving forward. We kindly ask members of the public to line the new route from the Bank of Ireland in Emmet Square, right around onto Green Street and finishing at Memory Lane Antiques.”

MC & Parade Opening Address

Parade MC - Emma Nee Haslam

Emma Nee Haslam became a member of the Vintage Week family as vice-chair from 1994 to 1996 and continues to be involved at many levels since then including festival secretary for many years, festival chair in 2007 and currently is a member of our board of directors.

Emma has been the Manager at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre for over twenty two years and has extensive experience in event management, running approx. 180 events per year.

During the past twenty years she established, and currently co-produces, both Hullabaloo! Offaly’s Children’s Arts Festival with Offaly County Council and Scripts Ireland’s Playwriting Festival with Jasango Theatre and was a member of the team that established OFFline Film Festival and Birr Festival of Music.

Parade Opening Address - John Carroll

John Carroll is the quintessential Birr person with DNA going back centuries in the locality and has been a committed community activist for many years.

He served as an elected public representative from 1985 until his retirement in June this year.

As a community activist, John has played a key role in the redevelopment of Birr Swimming Pool, the building of the Children's Playground, the refurbishment of Crinkle handball alley and the establishment of Birr 20:20 Vision.

Promotion of the Irish language has been a passion of his over the years. He played a leading role in establishing a Naoinra in the town and securing approval for a multi-denominational, co-educational Gaelscoil in Birr which recently moved to its new modern building.

He also contributed to many other voluntary groups in Birr including Birr Boxing Club, Birr Travellers and Settled group, Birr Comhaltas and Biorra le Gaeilge.

After The Parade

Green Street

4pm. Vintage Cars on Display

Emmet Square

4pm. Circo Goyo

5pm. Children’s Vintage Costume Competition

5.30pm. Ann’s Best Dressed on Vintage Sunday.

Circo Goyo

Goyo is a shameless Balloon Man, who dances without fear of ridicule, who enjoys and transmits his energy on stage. With a unicycle and juggling routines, he makes the difficult easy, enjoying the music that complements each moment. Gregorio has performed at festivals across

Europe and his native country Argentina. In partnership with Circus Factory.