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Mount Prospect Irish Fest draws elite Irish dancers, musicians

Sorry lads and lassies, you'll have to wait 326 days until St. Patrick's Day.

But who's counting?

In Mount Prospect, no one pays attention to that pesky calendar. A celebration of the Emerald Isle can by just as fun in April as March.

All the critical ingredients were there at the Mount Prospect's Chamber of Commerce's Irish Fest Saturday: Guinness, fish and chips, Celtic music and ringlet-haired Irish dancers.

The weather may have felt a little bit like Ireland, but visitors enjoyed the food and entertainment from the warmth of a heated tent downtown.

Kieran Maude danced a solo for the Sheila Tully Academy of Irish Dance. Maude's parents Martin and Marita both dance for the famous Irish Rovers.

“I want to keep doing it. It's a family tradition,” said the 11-year-old from Palatine. “Learning all the new dances and the traditional dances are the most fun.”

  Ainsley McIlrath, 4, from Hoffman Estates, sits on her dad Jim's shoulders waiting to go on stage Saturday to dance with the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance from Palatine. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  Cece Stefo, 11, of Glenview represents the Sheila Tully Academy of Irish Dance. She recently competed in the World Irish Dance Championship in Montreal. "I've been dancing since I was 4," she said "It's been really fun to travel around and compete." Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  Lauretta Trebat, 97, of Mount Prospect has been going to Irish Fest every year to watch her 15-year-old great granddaughter Cameron Davis of Glenview dance. Trebat has lived in the same home in Mount Prospect since 1955. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  Kathleen Tully, who lives in Burlington, Wisconsin, enjoys a beer Saturday while visiting her cousin Donna Glickman, from Des Plaines. Tully says she has a lot of Irish blood going way back. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
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