Big E Opening Weekend Features Events at the Irish Pavilion
The Irish Pavilion is open throughout the fair and features Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula / Wild Atlantic Way Irish Crafters / Artisans of Jewelry, Crystal, Celtic Gifts, Distillers, Weaving, Pottery, Knitting, Felting, Tweeds and more.
The Big E, Massachusetts-based New England State Fair and North America’s 4th largest fair, runs September 12–28, 2025.
WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA – Some of Ireland’s most famous vendors, artisans, distillers, crafters and vacation-itinerary planners from the Wild Atlantic Way’s renowned Dingle Peninsula will offer their unique creations and services to mark their 26th year at The Big E, North America’s fourth largest fair. Opening festivities begin Sept. 12 with a weekend-long “Halfway to Saint Patrick’s Day” celebration, sponsored by Aer Lingus.
In addition to the onsite Dingle Peninsula businesses, the 2025 Big E, for the first time, will also showcase through video and other presentations more than 150 members of Dingle Peninsula Tourism businesses, 96 percent of which are family owned and operated.
Visitors to The Big E’s Irish pavilion, in the Young Building will learn about the huge welcome planned for North American visitors when they visit the Dingle Peninsula. More than a dozen Irish businesses will attend The Big E’s Dingle Peninsula Showcase, offering superior products and services from the Dingle Peninsula region, which National Geographic magazine called “one of the most beautiful places on Earth.”
“Our members across the Dingle Peninsula have collectively put a ‘welcome on the mat’ to the North American market, with a focus on delivering local authentic Irish hospitality and activities for an immersive experience,” said Caroline Boland, marketing coordinator for Dingle Peninsula Tourism. “This year, Dingle Peninsula Tourism and its members have adopted a ‘Community and Fáilte (welcome)’ theme, noting that our beautiful part of the world remains focused on providing an exceptional holiday / vacation for our visitors. Our reimagined Irish Pavilion, Dingle Peninsula Showcase, this year will feature a typical retail street scene on the Dingle Peninsula.”
In addition, participants in a series of events at The Big E and nearby communities will host western Massachusetts’ Irish cultural organizations to celebrate the 2025 “Community and Welcome” theme, including the Sons of Erin of Westfield, Mass., the John Boyle O’Reilly Club of Springfield, Mass., the Ancient Order of Hibernians’ James A. Curran Division 1 of Holyoke, the Saint Patrick’s Day Committee of Holyoke, Mass., the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England, and the Springfield, Mass., Elks Lodge.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., Irish Consul, Consul General FitzGerald, Mayor of Kerry, Michael Foley, and the Kerry County Council delegation will be guests of honor during a welcome ceremony on Sept. 13, led by West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt and The Big E President and Chairman Gene Cassidy.
Meanwhile, visitors to the Irish Pavilion’s Dingle Peninsula Showcase, in the Young Building can complete Dingle Peninsula Tourism’s annual survey of the North American market to win a flight to Ireland from Hartford or Boston, sponsored by Aer Lingus. They can also register for a second drawing for a week-long stay at a self-catering accommodation (Vacation Rental) in the heart of Dingle, Ireland, offered by Brian and Mairead de Staic, owners of the famous Brian de Staic Jewellery, who celebrate their 26th year as an exhibitor at The Big E. A third drawing offered at the Irish Pavilion will be a one-year subscription to MyIrelandBox, a monthly subscription package of curated Irish-themed surprises, providing a unique way to learn, taste and experience Ireland’s culture, traditions and crafts, with gifts ranging from a booklet of Irish information and stories and sweet Irish confections to books, homeware, Irish-made accessories and more from Irish artisans.
The relationships across the Western Massachusetts region stem from a vast 20th Century migration of families from the Blasket Islands off the Dingle Peninsula coast and County Kerry to settle in Western Massachusetts, leading in recent years to Sister City relationships between the Dingle Peninsula and West Springfield, between Tralee and Holyoke, Mass., and between Tralee and Springfield, Mass.
Ireland’s Consul General for New England Sighle FitzGerald will again attend The Big E on Sept. 13, and will host a “pop-up” Irish Consulate with her team in the Irish Pavilion. In addition, representatives from other Irish Cultural Centers across New England have been invited to “Mingle with Dingle” events during the fair.
The Irish businesses and organizations participating in the Fair are among the west of Ireland’s most famous jewelers, crystal artisans, weavers, tweed, felt and woolen crafters, tourism executives, potters and more.
Mayor of Kerry, Councillor Michael Foley, members of the Kerry County Council delegation, Dingle Peninsula Tourism and participating businesses, will participate in a business discussion with western Massachusetts tourism and economic development executives on the impact of the trans-Atlantic relationships. It will focus on the Dingle Peninsula and County Kerry as a primary destination for immersive tourism, business and investment to build on already strong partnerships and links between the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, the West Springfield region, and the State of Massachusetts.
“County Kerry has long-standing cultural and economic connections with the Greater Springfield area, rooted in the deep ties of our diaspora — particularly those from the Dingle Peninsula and the Blasket Islands who made Western Massachusetts their home,” said Foley. “These bonds have evolved into vibrant Sister City partnerships with West Springfield, Holyoke and Springfield. Attending The Big E is a valuable opportunity to strengthen and expand our trans-Atlantic partnerships.”
Businesses, craftworkers and organizations representing the Dingle Peninsula at The Big E include:
• Brian de Staic Jewellery, crafters of distinctive jewelry for more than 40 years, features one of Ireland’s leading goldsmiths, Brian de Staic and his wife, Máiread, who opened in 1981. This is their 26thAnniversary attending The Big E. Celebrities that include Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Saoirse Ronan and Laura Dern own Brian de Staic creations.
• Dingle Crystal, which designed and crafted Shamrock Bowls presented by the Irish Prime Minister at White House Saint Patrick’s Day ceremonies from 2022-2024, will introduce elegant vintage-style champagne/prosecco coupes in their signature classic clear and a beautiful new pink. They also will feature matching pink champagne flutes or roly tumblers, which also are available in a new rich amber tone to pairs with their green tumblers in celebration of the Green and Gold of Kerry. Sean Daly, who apprenticed and worked for 15 years in Waterford Crystal to become a master cutter, established Dingle Crystal when his former employer moved production out of Ireland. Bringing a traditional cutting wheel, Sean and his family will demonstrate Dingle Crystal’s original glass cutting and design at their booth.
• The Blasket Centre overlooks the Great Blasket Island, where many of the Irish Diaspora in Western Massachusetts originated. The Centre offers fascinating heritage and cultural displays and museum artefacts honoring the unique community on the remote Blasket Islands until their 1953 evacuation. It tells their story of island life, subsistence on fishing and farming, modes of work and transport, housing and entertainment. With a variety of exhibitions, interactive displays, artifacts, audio visual presentations and artworks, the Centre details the community’s struggle for existence, for their language and for their culture, as well as their extraordinary literary legacy.
• Dingle Distillery has introduced their limited edition Descendants Cask Programme, and will offer tastings of their famous whiskey, gin and vodka throughout the fair at the Dingle Whiskey Bar adjacent to the Irish Pavilion. Every drop of its spirits has been distilled and matured at the award-winning Dingle Distillery, built in a former sawmill on the fringes of the scenic coastal town of Dingle, County Kerry. Opened in 2012 as the first independent, family-owned, purpose-built, artisan spirits distillery in more than a century, its spirits are available in the United States through Hotaling & Co. importers.
• Dingle Distillery Bar, operated by West Kerry native Mick Corduff, unveils the new layout of two hand-made, horseshoe-shaped wooden bars to serve adult beverages to pause from a busy tour of the fairgrounds. In addition, the Dingle Distillery tasting area has become part of the new look, and it will feature its Big E cask program for the first time. Thirsty fair-goers also can order Guinness, Smithwicks, Harp or Bulmers, and the bar will offer live entertainment on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.
• My Ireland Gift Box, which provides subscribers world-wide with a monthly curated collection of Irish mementos, returns to The Big E through their great Giveaway of a year’s subscription for the lucky winner. My Ireland Gift Box, Ireland’s Original Unboxing Experience, has delivered Irish-made surprises since 2013. September’s gift box revives its members’ favorite collection, The Irish Sheep: a collection of handcrafted sheep-inspired treasures, “thoughtfully made to bring the charm of Ireland into your home.”
• Celtic Gift House returns to The Big E for its 22nd year, offering a range of Celtic jackets, hoodies, tee shirts and baseball caps, as well as a variety of musical instruments and accessories, including tin whistles, bodhrans and guitar straps. Also available will be ELFIS and “Craic House Chopper” products that have proven a hit with The Big E fairgoers.
• Original Kerry returns for its second year to the Dingle Peninsula Pavilion, where tradition meets innovation. Expect a warm Irish welcome to their reimagined space showcasing the finest of Kerry Made craft collections, from textiles to ceramics, each curated piece encapsulates Kerry’s essence, traditions, heritage and the breath-taking scenery that inspires us. Crafters and artisans will include Kerry Woollen Mills, Louis Mulcahy Pottery, Mucros Weavers, Ring of Kerry Crafts, Linda Ní hAiniféin Dingle Ceramics and Made4You.
• Daily Video Presentations will offer Big E fairgoers video experiences from Dingle Peninsula Tourism members. These videos celebrate the region’s spectacular scenery, villages, crafts and the literary heritage of the Great Blasket Islands, and ‘muintir na tíre’ – the “people of the place.”
• Irish Cultural Center of Western New England cultivates a connection with Ireland and generations of local Irish diaspora – many of whose ancestors left the Blasket Islands just off the Dingle Peninsula’s Atlantic coast in County Kerry. The ICCWNE provides access to Irish-oriented lectures, concerts, exhibitions of art, artifacts and memorabilia, political discussions, international relations, GAA sports, Irish language classes, student international exchange and genealogical research. It also provides a bridge between the Irish government and the Western New England region.
• Western Mass Tourism / Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, an Economic Development Council of Western Mass affiliate and a private non-profit destination marketing organization, promotes Western Massachusetts for meetings, conventions, group tours, sports and leisure travel. Irish immigration to New England peaked in the mid-19th century when countless families sought new opportunity and landed in Western Massachusetts, which still celebrates Irish culture and heritage — from one of the largest and most-cherished annual St. Patrick’s Day parades in Holyoke to The Dingle Peninsula Pavilion at The Big E.
• Dingle Peninsula Tourism is a non-profit sustainability-focused, community tourism and destination management co-operative owned and managed by its family-run businesses and community development members across Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula. Representing over 160 local businesses, their website offers visitors the most up-to-date information to plan and enjoy a visit to the peninsula. Dingle Peninsula Tourism also offers a concierge desk staffed by its team to answer questions or help tailor a vacation for visitors. Visit their booth for great local advice and tips to vacationing in Ireland and to participate in the Drawings and Giveaways too!
• Others involved in the Dingle Peninsula Showcase and the organization and sponsorships of the ‘Halfway to Saint Patrick’s Day’ celebration include: from Ireland – Kerry County Council, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Fáilte Ireland and Aer Lingus; and from Western Massachusetts – West Springfield City Council, West Springfield Sister City Committee, the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England, West Springfield High School, Explore Western Mass – GSCVB, and Eastern States Exposition, The Big E.
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Turasóireachta Chorca Dhuibhne / Dingle Peninsula Tourism, the peninsula’s non-profit umbrella tourism group of volunteers, provides sustainable, regenerative development and responsible promotion of the peninsula. Promoting slow tourism, the organization supports award-winning work of local family-run businesses, community groups, festivals and events committees, and local communities. Visit www.dingle-peninsula.ie or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dingle.official, and follow us on Instagram using handle @DinglePeninsula. Engage with us using #DinglePeninsula #StayALittleLonger, #MinglewithDingle.
The Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, an affiliate of the Economic Development Council of Western Mass, is a private non-profit destination marketing organization dedicated to promoting Western Mass for meetings and conventions, group tours, sports and leisure travel. For more information on the GSCVB, visit www.ExploreWesternMass.com or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/explorewesternmass and follow us on Twitter using handle @XploreWesternMA. Engage with us using #westernmass.
Eastern States Exposition (ESE) is a 175-acre show facility located at the crossroads of New England in western Massachusetts. Founded in 1916 by Joshua L. Brooks, the Exposition is a treasured New England tradition. ESE is home to The Big E, the nation’s fourth largest fair, attracting 1.67 million visitors during its 17-day run in mid-September 2024. The largest event of its kind on the eastern seaboard, The Big E attracts visitors from all of New England, New York and beyond, who flock to West Springfield for musical entertainment, foods from around the world, a circus,agricultural animals, rides, shopping and more. The Big E is the only fair in the United States that represents more than one state; representing all six of the New England States. Eastern States Exposition’s expansive and versatile facilities are also home to 120 shows and events between Septembers. The Exposition’s current annual economic impact is more than half a billion dollars. Visit Eastern States Exposition, 1305 Memorial Avenue, West Springfield, Mass. 01089. E: info@TheBigE.com TheBigE.com #BigEMoments