NORTH WILDWOOD — The annual Irish Fall Festival, commonly called Irish Weekend, might qualify the Wildwoods for the Emerald Isle with more than 200,000 green-clad, stout- and-whiskey-drinking locals and visitors enjoying a weekend long party that celebrates Irish heritage.
But 20 years ago, the weekend looked a lot different, with only a handful of vendors, a few open bars and pipe brigades that cancelled last minute.
“It certainly has come a long way,” said Mike McGuire, president of the local order of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
According to McGuire, the first year the AOH was formed locally, the members wanted to celebrate by throwing a festival. The celebration was also a way for the organization to raise money for local charities.
“The first year the event was very small,” McGuire said. “I think there were a few vendors. They even had a couple of pipe bands that didn’t show up.”
Despite the small start, McGuire said the members of the AOH saw the positive impact, both in the local economy and in their club’s popularity.
And as the festival grew, so did the AOH’s membership. McGuire has been in the club for 10 years and has been president of the group for two years.
McGuire said the AOH membership reached 200 people three years ago. The amount of money that the AOH generates for charity has increased too, although McGuire said the organization likes to keep exactly how much is made private.
He said he wasn’t involved in the organization at the start of festival, but remembers the atmosphere in the city as the event began to draw more people.
“After the first couple of years, the interest jut got bigger and bigger,” he said. “Until it turned into the event it is today.”
The event has never skipped a year or had to be postponed due to weather, McGuire said.
“There have been some days that have been rainy, last year on Sunday was a bit of a wash, but weather doesn’t keep people away. They just put up their umbrellas and keep going,” he said.
McGuire said that in the 20 years of the festival, McGuire he’s seen the biggest crowds at the Brian Riley Pipe Exhibition, planned this year at 8th and Central Avenues at 10 a.m. on Sept. 24.
“That place gets packed,” he said of the park where the competition takes place.
For as long as the festival has been around, there has also been an “official Irish music tent,” said Jim McKee, who is responsible for booking the bands for the past 20 years.
“The tent used to be apart of Moore’s Inlet,” McKee said. “Then when the bar closed, we realized that we had to do something to keep that atmosphere going and keep people interested.”
McKee said the solution was to put up a tent across from the former hot spot, in the city’s parking lot at Spruce and Olde New Jersey avenue. The tent holds about 1,000 to 1,200 people during the course of the festival, with a full bar, lights, and a stage.
“The set up is intensive,” he said. “The tent has to get set up a few days before in order to get everything done.”
On Thursday, prior to the start of live music, a boxing ring will be in the tent for amateur matches between the Harrowgate Boxing Club in Philadelphia and the Holy Family Boxing Club from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Starting on Sept. 23, McKee said the tent will have continuous music with live bands.
Some groups, he said, have performed at the festival since its inception, like the Paul Moore Band. Other groups like Derek Warfield and the Young Wolftones and the Highland Rovers, he said have a following of fans that come to hear the mix of traditional and Celtic rock style of music.
“Some bands give you a little background of the traditional songs or teach you some of the words,” he said.
McKee said that during the day the tent is appropriate for families and an older crowd at night.
“In the 20 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never seen a problem start in the tent or originate in the tent,” he said.
The cost to enter the tent is $10 per day or $20 for the weekend.
With the amount of green T-shirts being sold around town increasing, red plastic beer cups flying off the shelves of local supermarkets, a number of homes proudly displaying flags in orange, white and green and about 200,000 set to arrive in town and gather in and around Olde New Jersey Avenue over the weekend, the event has been described as North Wildwood’s own Irish-version of Mardi Gras.
In order to handle the crowds, the AOH has a dedicated planning committee that works with the city, music promoters, bar and tavern owners, public safety and residents to make sure things run as smooth as possible.
Mayor Bill Henfey said the city signed a shared service agreement with the county Sheriff’s Department at the beginning of the year to help deal with crowd control. The city will compensate the additional Sheriff’s Department staff $50 per hour per officer for an amount not to exceed $25,000.
Henfey said that the county will add to traffic and foot patrols, a K-9 unit and a daytime mounted patrol to the city’s own police department during the event.
Henfey said, as usual, the city’s tavern owners association will reimburse the city for the cost of the extra manpower.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Henfey said of the money the city spends for the week-long event. “We do end up having to pay something, because of all the public works people making sure trash is picked up and the added public safety.”
But Henfey said the boost the Irish festival gives the local economy is well worth it.
Depending on whom you ask, the surrounding neighbors on Olde New Jersey Avenue’s entertainment district either gear up or batten down the hatches in preparation for the event.
Henfey said that residents who live in certain high traffic areas have been given special parking passes so they won’t have to fight the crowds for a parking space.
Police will be posted at the fences during the night to ensure that people aren’t going out into the neighborhood causing problems or with open containers of alcohol, Henfey said.
The mayor said the added police presence and foot and bike patrols have helped put an end to any disruptions in the neighborhood.
“We always listen to the concerns of the residents,” Henfey said. “For the most part, everyone is extremely tolerant, but they know they can call the police immediately if they need to.”
Henfey said that the most important lesson he’s learned in the 20 years of the festival is to provide safe, streamlined transportation.
The Great American Trolley Company will loop continuously in North Wildwood from 2nd and Olde New Jersey Avenues along Surf Avenue to 26th Avenue. Trolley service through Wildwood and Wildwood Crest will also be available.
Henfey said the taxi cab companies have been working with the police to coordinate drop off and pick up locations.
“We have a great time, but we want to make sure everyone is safe,” Henfey said.
Lauren Suit can be e-mailed at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext 250.
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