YOUNGSTOWN -- Everyone's Irish at the annual Irish heritage festival, The Gathering of the Irish

YOUNGSTOWN -- Everyone's Irish at the annual Irish heritage festival, The Gathering of the Irish Clans.
The family-oriented festival will be Aug. 19 at St. Maron Parish Recreation Area, 1555 S. Meridian Road.
Irish music, dance, poetry and cultural displays will be featured at the fifth annual festival, and vendors will sell Irish jewelry, notecards, books, CDs and apparel.
Homemade Irish food, such as scones, Irish stew and corned beef, will be sold all day.
Also, the festival will conduct a contest for the best soda bread, a traditional Irish food. Contest entries in white or brown bread categories will be accepted from 10 a.m. until noon.
Gates open at 10 a.m., and Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Admission is $5 for adults; children under the age of 12 will be admitted free. Events will take place rain or shine.
"It's just an enjoyment of our ancestral heritage," said Sally Pallante, president of The Gathering. "It's for the next generation to appreciate the things that we value as traditional Irish culture."
The Gathering of the Irish Clans is a nonprofit organization that incorporated in 1997 to sponsor an annual family festival celebrating Ireland's culture and maintaining ancient traditions.