St. Patrick’s Day festivities now two days,
will include Kentucky Rose competition

One day is apparently no longer enough to commemorate St. Patrick’s Day in Lexington.

The 2012 St. Patrick’s Day festivities have been expanded to include two full days of fun and celebration, including the addition of an internationally famous personality competition for young women of Irish descent.

An Irish Festival will be held in the Centrepoint block of downtown Lexington on Saturday, March 17, from 1 p.m.–10 p.m. and Sunday, March 18, from 12– 5 p.m.

Highlights of the two-day celebration include The Shamrock Shuffle race at 8 a.m., followed by a blessing of the keg at 1 p.m. and the 33rd Alltech St. Patrick’s Day Parade at 3 p.m., all on that Saturday.

The highlight of Sunday’s events will be a personality competition for young women of Irish descent.

At 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 18, the Lexington Celtic Association will celebrate Irish culture by hosting the Kentucky Rose, a regional affiliate of the Rose of Tralee International Festival competition.

WLEX-18 meteorologist Bill Meck will serve as master of ceremonies, and local celebrities, including Mrs. Kentucky, will judge a dozen “Roses,” (unmarried women 18 to 28 years old) and declare a winner at 5 p.m. The winner will be crowned the Rose of Kentucky and will receive an all-expense-paid trip to County Kerry, Ireland, to compete in the 2012 Rose of Tralee International Festival, one of Ireland’s largest and longest running festivals.

The Rose of Tralee International Festival draws tourists and contestants from around the globe to enjoy street entertainment, a carnival, live concerts, theater, a circus, markets, fireworks and a parade, but the heart of the festival is the crowning of the Rose of Tralee, who will travel the world as an ambassador of Irish culture.

The contest is based on a 19th century Irish ballad about a woman named Mary whose beauty earned her the title “Rose of Tralee,” but the competition is not a traditional beauty pageant.

According to festival organizers, “a Rose reflects the intelligence, compassion and independence of modern Irish women. Over the years our Roses have mirrored a changing Ireland and the definition of Irishness that is celebrated by so many different people around the world. Roses have come to reflect the widening of Irish borders and the embracing of our global diaspora in a positive and refreshing way.”

For more information, visit here or contact Liza Hendley-Betz, owner of Failte Irish Import shop and founder of the Lexington Celtic Association at 859-381-1498 or contact@failteimports.com.