Sunday, February 24th, the North Platte Catholic Schools will hold the 38th annual Irish Fest celebration at St. Patrick’s High School, 500 S. Silber, from 12:00 Noon to 3:30 p.m. The entire community is invited to get into the Irish spirit with a day full of family fun!

The event features a turkey and noodles dinner served from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., mini carnival games and prizes, Fun Jumpz, a silent auction, bake sale, and raffle. All are invited!

This year’s Irish Fest Raffle offers a 50” HDTV, an Acer Netbook mini laptop computer, $1,000 CASH, and 4 tickets to see Taylor Swift in concert in Omaha on March 14th. Raffle tickets are $2.00 each and are on sale now through Sunday. They can be purchased from any McDaid or St. Patrick’s student, at the North Platte Catholic Schools Endowment (601 S. Tabor), or at McDaid and St. Patrick’s schools. Raffle tickets will also be sold at Irish Fest. The raffle drawing will take place at 3:15 p.m. on Sunday, the 24th. You do not have to be present to win.

Records indicate that the event originally called “Mardi Gras” was first celebrated on Tuesday, February 11, 1975.  In the early years it was held on “Fat Tuesday” prior to the start of the Lenten season. Later it was changed to Sunday, and has been a tradition since. For the past 38 years, Irish Fest has involved hundreds of volunteers and proceeds have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to the operating budget of the North Platte Catholic School system.

Contact Wendy Dodson, 534-5939 for more information.