NORTH WILDWOOD – The shore doesn’t need much of an excuse to throw a party, but when this fall festival comes around every September, North Wildwood transforms into a crowd of green, shamrocks on shirts, the sound of bagpipes and more pints poured than bartenders can count. Buckle up because North Wildwood’s Irish Festival is right around the corner.
The free festival spans three days, and folks take every one of those 72 hours to celebrate. But it didn’t grow into a full-weekend event overnight.
The first festival was in 1992 on the doorstep of Anglesea Pub: that first year had just a tent and an Irish parade. It was designed to honor Irish culture and to create a gathering place for local Irish families and friends to connect with their roots.
Over the years, it has grown into one of the largest Irish festivals on the East Coast, attracting both locals and travelers who want a taste of Irish culture without hopping on a plane. Wildwood has always had a large Irish population, so what better place to celebrate the heritage than right here on the island.
Now, what everyone is thinking: yes, the weekend is heavily run on alcohol. Guinness taps work overtime, Jameson flows freely, and bars are packed shoulder-to-shoulder. The festival is on Olde New Jersey Avenue, where you can’t walk two feet without passing a bar.
It’s not a huge secret that drunken activities are happening all weekend long. Bartenders will tell you that they have seen it all.
“Last year I had a guy ask me for a 16-ounce cup of straight Stateside vodka because ‘it was too busy and he wanted to get drunk faster,’” Michael McFadden, a bartender at the Inlet, said. “I’ve seen so many crazy things.”
People have stories of their friends waking up on random people’s lawns, staying out until the morning after, and leaving without a phone or wallet. “The Irish do love to drink, and everyone likes to drink on Irish weekend,” Jim Grugan, the current president of the Irish Festival, jokingly said. “A lot of stories probably couldn’t be published.”
Ask any bartender on the strip for a funny Irish weekend story and they’ll have one right away. But don’t ask on Irish Weekend, or you might get yelled at for holding up the line.
Through all the madness and empty bottles, the festival rises above and always puts people’s safety first. “Through all the Irish weekends, even with the things you hear going on in Wildwood now, we have never had a major, serious incident,” Jim said. “We have great security and support from all first responders in North Wildwood.”
This balance of drunkenness, safety, and a genuine celebration of Irish culture is what makes the event so beloved. Yes, the late-night pub crawls and packed bars grab the headlines, but there’s so much that happens beyond the barstool. The weekend is filled with authentic Irish music, boxing matches, a golf competition, Irish dance lessons, and a lot more.
Many families make Irish Weekend a yearly tradition, returning not just for the party but for the chance to connect with culture. “They always come back,” Jim said.
The festival, according to a report on CBS last year, is said to have over 200,000 people throughout the weekend. And it just keeps growing.
That’s what makes Irish Weekend so unique: it’s both a wild party and a cultural festival rolled into one. You can spend the afternoon with the kids watching dancers, head to the parade to hear the bagpipes, then grab a pint and toast with your friends when the sun goes down. It’s a ‘choose your own adventure’ weekend, whether your adventure is corned beef and crafts or cold beer and shots.
So, maybe Irish Weekend is loud, rowdy, and unapologetically fun. But it’s also one of Wildwood’s most meaningful traditions, weaving together history, heritage, and plenty of humor.
“We hope that we’re promoting the fact that Irish are more than just people going out to get a beer,” Jim said.
If you’re feeling lucky, check out the events calendar for more information on the festival. And remember that behind the sloshing beers and shamrocks, there’s a proud culture at work, celebrating the joy of being Irish—or just Irish for the weekend.
Contact the author, Skylar Williamson, at swilliamson@cmcherald.com – Skylar is a summer writer for Do the Shore. She is a journalism and architecture student at Penn State University.
