By Lauren Hunter
Staff Writer
Thursday, March 6 at 7 p.m. in the Finnigan Field House, Student Life hosted their annual Irish Fest. There was a small group of people present initially, but as the evening went on, the crowd grew large.
Attendees who were 21 and older were able to enjoy free alcohol, which included an assortment of beers. In addition, to the right of the room, there was a merchandise table for the band of the evening, Scythian.
There was Irish inspired food at the festival as well. The main course was baked potatoes with an assortment of toppings, a side of soft pretzels with cheese sauce, and sliders.
For the first thirty minutes, people were able to find seats and eat their food while pre-recorded Irish and folk music played. Around 7:30 p.m., Murphy Givens came onto the stage as the first performance of the evening.
He played an assortment of modern music and Irish folk music which included “Tell Me Ma,” “Tennessee Whisky,” “Wild Rover,” “Rocky Road to Dublin” and “Stick Season.” While he was switching to another song, however, there were technical difficulties, so Givens had to step off stage.
Pre-recorded music resumed playing, while line dancing and swing dancing groups formed, and people danced for half an hour. Afterwards, the Irish Dance Club from Franciscan University of Steubenville performed several dances.
Scythian finally took the stage at 9 p.m. Their songs included “Halfway Home,” “Cotton Eye Joe,” “The Motherland,” “Louisiana Saturday Night” and various Irish folk songs. The people at the front of the stage were clapping to the music and had their hands up cheering.
Senior Lucy Jones said, “Irish Fest was filled with so much fun. Great food. Great company. Great entertainment. I loved watching the Irish Dancing, and hearing Scythian perform was such a blessing.”
She continued, “My favorite part of the night was when the band broke out in “Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew. It took me by surprise!”