Beijing St Patrick’s Parade Canceled

After getting the necessary approvals and government go ahead Beijing’s St Patrick’s Day parade has been shut down by Chinese authorities, following the trend set last week when Shanghai’s celebration failed to get past the approval stage.

In past years, one of the many St Patrick’s Day festivities has been a parade and fair, originally taking place at Wangfujing but having moved in recent years to Chaoyang Park. The cancellation of this year’s fair comes a week after Shanghai made headlines when similar plans were disapproved.

Despite the unfortunate turn of events there is still plenty of St Paddy’s fun around the city. Irish themed quizzes start tonight and the celebration gets into full swing tomorrow. On Friday, catch the Celtic Concert at the Forbidden City Concert Hall with harpist Katie Targett-Adams, an Irish band, and Irish dancers. For more information on Irish events check out the Irish Embassy website.