Downtown Hanceville will be filled with music, dance, and (of course) food today as the 3rd annual Hanceville Irish Festival returns to celebrate the city’s Emerald Isle heritage.

Commercial Street and surrounding lanes will close all day long to make way for a procession of activities, musical acts, and street vendors. For organizers, it’s a way to acknowledge the city’s historical roots as one of Cullman County’s oldest communities. Originally a part of what today is neighboring Blount County, Hanceville was founded in 1832 by Irish settlers.

In addition to the 20 or so vendors who’ll line the streets, the festival also will feature kids’ activities like bouncy houses and train rides, as well as food trucks, arts and crafts, and a musical lineup that includes Black Market Haggis, A Shamrock in Kudzu, The O’Faoláin Academy of Irish Dance, Chuck Carpenter and Tommy Chapman (aka the O’Toole Brothers), and a 4 p.m. jam session that’s open to anyone.

Beginning at 9 a.m. and running through 5 p.m., the festival is free to attend. Local businesses will be open throughout the day, so the only money you’ll need to spend will be on whatever you eat or carry home. For more information about the festival, visit the event’s Facebook page by searching the site for “Hanceville Irish Festival.”

Another Irish-themed event, the Victim Services of Cullman 2nd annual St. Paddy’s in the Park, has been canceled due to concerns over the transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The outdoor event had been planned for a 10 a.m. start time today at Cullman’s Depot Park.

Also canceled today is the Cullman Kiwanis Club’s planned 64th annual Pancake Day, which was scheduled to run from 7 a.m. until 11 a.m. at the Cullman High School cafeteria.