2009 CROSSROADS IRISH-AMERICAN FESTIVAL March 7-15, 2009 This year the Crossroads Irish-American Festival chooses the theme of memory as it honors its founder, Danny Cassidy, who died of cancer in October 2008. Danny was a teacher, scholar, activist, author, organizer, musician, filmmaker, mentor, and friend. He believed deeply in the art, craft and importance of oral history as a way of preserving the stories of our communities and families and as a means to preserving our Irish-American culture. Click here to see the calendar Click here to read a letter from the Irish Consul General ============================================= The Crossroads Irish-Ameicran Festival is an annual, cultural arts, and literary event in San Francisco that explores and celebrates the history of the Irish Diaspora throughout the Americas in creative performance, vibrant conversation and debate, music, film, readings, storytelling, theater, and more. Irish-Americans possess a rich and diverse history that has greatly influenced the cultural, political, and creative landscapes of the United States and beyond. We aim to reveal these many and often hidden histories of the Irish in the Americas by convening public events with noted writers, musicians, actors, film makers, poets, historians, scholars, story-tellers and other local, national, and international figures who reveal  the meaning of an Irish-American heritage through their scholarly and creative works. The Crossroads Irish-American Festival is also committed to building an oral archive of the history of the local Irish-American community, as defined by neighborhoods throughout the City of San Francisco. We hope to accomplish all of these goals through the annual production  of the Crossroads Irish-American Festival in the month of March.  All events are open to the public and most events are free. Crossroads is a project of Intersection for the Arts.