'Unique' get-together for locals returns to Carrick - Leitrim Street Feast is coming back this May

Leitrim residents are being invited to pull up a chair, share some food and say hello as the popular Street Feast, Ireland’s national weekend of community lunches and gatherings, returns to Carrick-on-Shannon on Saturday, May 23rd from 1pm to 4pm.  

Organiser of the event Lola Gonzalez has worked with numerous Leitrim organisations to promote the integration and inclusion of new communities in Ireland.

Speaking to the Leitrim Observer, she said the first Street Feast in Carrick-on-Shannon, through the Leitrim International Community group, was held at the Breffni Community Centre in 2019 but after the arrival of covid, the festival went on hiatus for a number of years. "We started doing them again, after all restrictions were lifted, in partnership with Carrick-on-Shannon Tidy Towns."

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Ms Gonzalez continued: "This year I'm hosting it through the women's group, Liatroma Women's Collective,  which I started in September last year. We asked Leitrim Pride to collaborate with us this year so they will be co-hosting the event with us. We are hoping to hold it in the Market Square Yard. The event will be catered but we welcome anyone who wants to bring a dish from their home or business that they would like to share."

Children will also be catered for with an array of activities to make sure the little ones are entertained. "We will have arts and crafts. One year, we had a puppet show which was a lot of fun."

She added that there will be music at the event and a number of raffles are set to be held on the day.

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Ms Gonzalez said that there were around 200 attendees at the last event. "We had close to 200 people come through over the three hours that the event was on so it is really popular with locals. It's such a unique and colourful event."

Street Feast, which is sponsored by Tesco Ireland this year, hopes to see participation grow from 962 neighbourhoods last year to 1,200 feasts in 2026.

Last year, an estimated 88,000 people took part, a 24% rise in hosts.

Anyone interested in getting involved can register at StreetFeast.ie and will receive a free party pack delivered to their door, stocked with bunting, posters, invitations and a DIY guide. There’s also the option to collect a pack from one of 20 participating Tesco stores. 

Street Feast is a project of Neighbourhood Network and is made possible thanks to the generous support of the following campaign partners; the Department of Rural and Community Development; the Local Authorities; Tesco Ireland.