The Listowel Kinsmen are excited to have Paddyfest under somewhat normal conditions this year.
Paddyfest Chair and Kinsmen Station Manager, Ben Zavitz, says the last couple of years have been challenging, with in-person events and big festivities near impossible to hold due to the pandemic. But this year, things are feeling a little more normal.
"We are excited to come back, even in a reduced capacity setting, to bring back Paddyfest for this year and have something to look forward to and socially get together."
Zavitz says there are a ton of events this year, including many that are already sold out like the golf simulator tournament. He adds that shows he excited the community is to get back to enjoying local events.
"That just shows the appetite that the area has for getting out of the house and getting together, which is just awesome. So there's lots of events available still and they can be seen on our website (https://www.paddyfest.ca/) including next week. Next Friday, March 18th, we normally have hosted a blackjack charity casino that day, with all the proceeds to benefit cystic fibrosis, but this year just with COVID still, we wanted to space it out a little more. So we're going to do bingo, which will be a fun new challenge for us."
For the grand finale of Paddyfest this year, which is Saturday, March 19th, Zavitz says there will be a full day of fun planned.
"We've got a band playing called The Weekend Never Ends, they'll be playing all day from probably 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. Then at 7 p.m., we are going to start doing our Paddyfest Pot O' Gold Lottery draws. That will be all at the Kin Station, drop-in only so no tickets ahead. We're expecting it to be packed most of the day."