50,000 Take the Eire at Burbank’s Irish Fair

Songwriter Johnny Cash was referring to the Irish landscape when he wrote “Forty Shades of Green,” but he could have been talking about this weekend’s Grand National Irish Fair in Burbank.

Vivid shades of green brightened the Los Angeles Equestrian Center on Sunday, the second day of the festival, which drew about 50,000 people.

There were Kelly green banners studded with shamrocks, pea green folk-dancing costumes and emerald green T-shirts that proclaimed “Patrick was a saint; I ain’t” and “It’s hard to be humble when you’re Irish.”

There was even a green drink called a “Passionate Irish Kiss” made with orange juice, blue curacao and Old Bushmills Irish Whiskey. The whiskey company sponsored 12 very popular bars at the fair and a pavilion for dancing.

“It’s a very warm and friendly, fun-loving culture,” said Delia Mackey Rudiger, a college administrator whose family dressed up in green to hear Des Regan’s Band play. “We haven’t missed one year yet, even though my husband is only Irish through marriage to me.”

Since 1974, the Irish Fair Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Irish and Irish-American culture in Southern California, has sponsored the fair.

Selling Souvenirs

Tom Nolan, a sandy-haired Irishman who has lived in Southern California for 39 years, came to the fair to sell souvenirs from the homeland, such as linen handkerchiefs and mohair blankets. The best part about the annual event, said Nolan, 60, in a thick brogue, “is seeing old friends.”

Marvin Drabinsky of Northridge came to show off Darby, his Irish wolfhound. Eighty-six of the large dogs, formerly used for hunting, raced against each other Sunday morning, said Jeannine Roman, who chaired the Irish wolfhound division of the festival.

Other Irish events included Gaelic football, which is a cross between rugby and soccer, and hurling, which is similar to field hockey. Spectators ate watercress salad, Irish stew, and meat pies known as coddles as strolling bagpipers dressed in kilts serenaded the crowd.

“This is as close as we’ll get to going to Ireland for quite a while,” said Kevin Jennings, 30, a mechanic whose left upper arm is tattooed with “Eire,” the Gaelic word for Ireland.

But you didn’t have to be Irish to enjoy the harp music, Irish theater and Connemara pony show.

“We were wondering about it after we saw it on TV,” said Joaquin Martinez, 41, from Alhambra, who brought his wife and three children to hear the folk music. “It’s something different.”