Irish eyes and environmentalists alike will be smiling at the 9th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration and Green Festival which takes place Sunday, March 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. At the Orange County Market Place, the weekend swap meet at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.

Four Orange County based dance academies, all with world championship students and accolades will perform a variety of jigs, reels, soft and hard shoe styles in honor of the Emerald Isle on the main stage. They include the McDermott Evans School of Irish Dance from Irvine at 11:30 a.m., Claddagh School of Irish Dance of Lake Forest at 12:30 p.m., Butler-Fearon O’Connor School of Irish Dance of Mission Viejo at 1:30 p.m. and Aniar Academy of Irish Dance of Laguna Niguel at 2:30 p.m.

Irish musical duo, the Manning Brothers, will kick off the main stage talent at 10 a.m. The troupe will also have a booth with Irish souvenirs and clothing during the event.

Members of the largest Smart Car Club in America, So Cal Smarties Meet Up, will gather to show off their micro green cars in an all-day display.

The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension will provide information about the Orange County Water Quality Program. Attendees will learn where our water goes through a hands-on interactive watershed model that shows water pollution sources and prevention.

A special section for eco-friendly products and crafts will be featured and includes up cycled household accessories and décor, jewelry including pieces made from zippers, Mexican folk art made with recycled items, fabric purses and quilts, non-toxic nail art, soy products and recycled bottle lamps.

Children can make their own recycled art courtesy of Earth Resource Foundation which will have a free crafting station.
Treasure Island, a section of the OC Market Place for used items only, is a haven of recycled items for sale including many vintage, antique and collectibles. This area is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Several opportunities will be available to donate used items and help local organizations. This includes the Clothes for the Cause Recycling Drive (www.ClothesForThe CauseFundraising.com) Bring bags of your unwanted clothes, shoes, bedding and linens and receive one free Orange County Market Place admission per bag. You can designate whether you want to donate them to the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation or Barks of Love Animal Rescue, the two non-profit groups that will receive funds based on the pounds of clothing they receive. In addition to free admission passes, each person will be entered into drawing for gift cards and other prizes.

Free admission to the Festival will also be offered with the donation of used eye glasses for the Lion’s Club, which refurbishes and provides glasses for those in need.

You can also donate blood at the Lifestream Bloodmobile, which will be at the Festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. LifeStream is a private, not-for-profit, 501c3 comprehensive blood center that provides more than 210,000 blood products each year to hospitals. Each donor will receive two tickets to an Improv Comedy show.

Other activities include Abbit O’ Blarney, a strolling “ Trash Talking Leprechaun” magician and comedian, The Bag Lady, a nine foot tall stilt walker wearing a massive amount of plastic bags representing what one individual uses in a year, and free face painting.

Gourmet food trucks will offer special menu items such as Fried Green Tomatoes, along with vegetarian selections such as a Mean Green Caesar Salad. Food trucks attending include Barcelona on the Go, Burnt Truck, Crepes Bonaparte, Dogzilla, Falasophy and Grilled Cheese Truck.

Elsewhere green beer and green lemonade will be available, along with green mint ice cream.