Irish Festival Brightens Sea Isle With Sea of Green

By Donald Wittkowski When you’re in Sea Isle City for an Irish festival, what is the best thing to buy, other than a pint of Guinness, perhaps? Clothing vendor Steve Cartledge smiled and then held up a green sweatshirt with the words “Sea Isle City Irish” and a shamrock logo on the front. “Sea Isle Irish stuff,” Cartledge said of his best-selling items. What else? Amid a sea of green clothing, shamrocks and green, white and orange flags, the annual Irish Weekend festival unfolded Saturday in gorgeous weather that seemed to be a gift from St. Patrick himself. The temperature flirted with 80 degrees on what was more of a beach day at the shore than the first day of fall. Bustling crowds lining the sidewalk reflect the festival's popularity. The Celtic-themed music, shopping and dining festival, located on the grounds of the LaCosta Lounge nightclub, has grown from a modest one-day affair attracting about 2,500 visitors in its first year to a weekend-long extravaganza drawing 10,000 to 20,000 people. It has become one of Sea Isle’s most popular fall weekend events. Irish Weekend got its start 12 years ago, when Mayor Leonard Desiderio challenged the local business community to come up with new events to draw visitors to the beach town after Labor Day, the traditional end to the peak summer tourism season. “It’s popular with a lot of locals. We also get a lot of second-homeowners who come down for the weekend for the festival,” noted Barbara Steele, LaCosta’s manager. LaCosta Lounge, which hosts the festival, is dressed up for the occasion with Irish flags. The festival wraps up Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at LaCosta, at the corner of John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Landis Avenue. The Florida-based band West of Galway entertained the crowds with traditional Irish music on Saturday and is scheduled to take the stage again on Sunday. The LaCosta’s surrounding property was turned into a miniature tent city Saturday to accommodate vendors selling everything from clothes and jewelry to pottery and gourmet foods. LaCosta itself was decorated with green, white and orange flags in a show of Irish pride. Festival-goers Cheryl and Michael Chestnut, of Sewell, Ann and Lou Manfre, of Brigantine, and Beth and Fran Gavin, of Woodbury Heights, who are all friends, were celebrating with cups of Guinness beers. “If you come to Sea Isle for the festival, you have fun. That’s the way it is,” Cheryl Chestnut said. From left, festival-goers Cheryl Chestnut, Michael Chestnut, Lou Manfre, Beth Gavin, Fran Gavin and Ann Manfre celebrate with a toast of Guinness beer. Sue Carlin, of Willow Grove, Pa., was accompanied by her daughter, Laura Carlin, and Laura’s daughter, Kayla, 4, and sons Hugo, 3, and Teddy, 1. All of the children were dressed in green, Irish-inspired clothing. “We come every year,” Sue Carlin said of the festival. “We like it because it’s not too big. It’s easy to walk around. We also like the music. The music is the big draw.” First-time festival-goers Elaine and Mike Strunk, of Philadelphia, found out about Irish Weekend from a Facebook posting. The Strunks were browsing through some green, Irish-themed T-shirts sold by a clothing vendor. Mike Strunk was wearing a shirt comically decorated with a mean-looking, drunken leprechaun. When asked what he and his wife liked about the festival, Mike Strunk, without hesitation, said, “Everything.” Shoppers browse through the Irish-themed clothing at a vendor's booth.