Accomplishments
While producing world-class events in the Bay Area for more than a decade, Irish-American Crossroads has now solidified the important role that it plays in the cultural life of our community.
The Festival was founded in 2004 to promote the discovery and understanding of the Irish experience in the Americas, and to ensure that the richness of the arts, culture, history, and traditions of this heritage are both held in high esteem and preserved for generations to come. Now in its 12th year, under the continuing direction of Hillary Flynn and Margaret McPeake, Crossroads offers audiences a diverse array of arts experiences, including music, theatre, dance, spoken word, and the visual arts, along with panel discussions, roundtables, workshops and other programming.
Crossroads has grown significantly as an organization in recent years. We now offer year-round programs that promote Irish culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2010, we launched the first-ever Oral History Archive of the Irish community in the Bay Area. Also in 2010, we inaugurated the Crossroads Irish-American Writing Contest to support the development of new and aspiring Irish-American writers. In addition, we produce a monthly calendar of community events that has become the de facto listing of Irish cultural programming in the Bay Area. These program expansions have resulted from new and deepening partnerships with donors, sponsors, and community organizations.
Some of our key, on-going partners include:
- Consulate General of Ireland
- Aer Lingus
- Tourism Ireland
- Invest Northern Ireland
- California Historical Society
- University of San Francisco
- San Francisco Public Library
- United Irish Cultural Center
While producing world-class events in the Bay Area for more than a decade, Irish-American Crossroads has now solidified the important role that it plays in the cultural life of our community. Since our inception, we’ve created a significant and valuable community asset that contributes richly to the life of the community as well as to the broader national discourse about Irish-American history, identity, and culture.
Since 2004, we have created a very meaningful body of work, a powerful network of relationships, a highly respected reputation and an ardent following. We have asked for and received the investment of individuals and small businesses in the community. Combined with the labors of love put forth by its primary organizers, this Festival (and its related projects) holds a profile and reputation that receives the respect and interest of authors, historians, academics, artists, musicians and storytellers from around the world.