Pittsburgh Irish Festival to feature Pine native Katie Grennan
Jun. 24—As a young girl, Katie Grennan performed for the Burke Conroy School of Irish Dance at the Pittsburgh Irish Festival.
This year, she hopes to have others doing the jig.
Grennan will be part of two bands performing at the event Sept. 10-12 at The Lots at Sandcastle in Homestead. After a cancellation last year because of the pandemic, the event will be celebrating its 30th anniversary.
"I am so excited to be playing at the Irish festival," said Grennan, who grew up in Pine and lives in Chicago. "I loved the festival as a kid. It was the highlight of my year because it was our biggest performance of the year. We would sometimes dance with the bands, including Gaelic Storm."
On Thursday, organizers announced the musical lineup — Gaelic Storm as well as We Banjo 3, The Screaming Orphans, Rory Makem, Colm Keegan of Celtic Thunder, Brother Angus, The Bow Tides, Bastard Bearded Irishman, Corned Beef & Curry, Donnie Irish, and The Wild Geese.
There will also be local performers and dance schools participating.
The festival was created to highlight the Irish culture and history in Pittsburgh from ethnic foods to music.
Grennan, a dance teacher, is a member of Gaelic Storm, a band founded in Santa Monica, Calif. The group is known for its Irish music as well as Scottish music — both vocals and instrumental tunes.
Grennan will also perform with Jessie Burns of Colorado and Ellery Klein from Boston, who formed the group The Bow Tides. The band includes three fiddlers who have at one time played with Gaelic Storm. They perform all instrumental tunes.
This will be the first time Bow Tides will perform in person.
"I have met so many wonderful people through the Irish festival," said Grennan, who has been playing the violin since age 4.
"It is such an embraced event in Pittsburgh. I will get to see so many friends and listen to some amazing music. The entertainment is definitely a reason people keep coming back."
Mairin Petrone, executive director of the festival, announced the return of the in-person event in March. She said some of the bands for the upcoming festival were those scheduled for last year.
"We wanted to bring back some familiar faces and also introduce some new bands," Petrone said. "There will be bands they know and others they may not have heard of. There is such a sense of community when you have everyone together in the same place. There is fun and there is joy in hearing live music."
Petrone said they find entertainment from past festivals, word of mouth and through the Association of Irish and Celtic Festivals.
Petrone and Grennan said one reason the festival continues to thrive is Pittsburgh's rich Irish culture. They've also had volunteers and guests who return every year.
"This is a multi-generational festival," Petrone said. "There are entire families who come — grandparents, parents and children. They love spending time together. Someone like Katie has really good memories from dancing here as a child. It means so much to her that she returned to play in a band and now with two bands."
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact JoAnne at 724-853-5062, jharrop@triblive.com or via Twitter .
