Two colossal Irish icons – Guinness and St Patrick, came together during the recent Guinness Storehouse® St. Patrick’s festival weekend.  52 acts with over 800 performers enthralled the massive crowds who visited the home of the black stuff over the three days.  With something to suit all tastes, festival entertainment included samba bands, American marching bands, gospel choirs, capoeira dancers, traditional Irish music, rock and blues musicians.

In all, over 13,500 people visited Guinness Storehouse during the festival with a record breaking 6,000 visitors on Sunday 16th March.  Festival-goers not only experienced lively and colourful musical performances, but also got the chance to taste different Guinness variants, including Guinness® Extra Stout and Guinness® Foreign Extra.  In addition over 25,000 free samples of Smoked Irish Salmon on Guinness Bread® were served, amounting to a whopping 160kg of Irish Smoked Salmon and 1000 loaves of Guinness® Bread!

Guinness Storehouse was also a focal point for media from around the world during the St. Patrick’s weekend.  Ireland’s number 1 visitor attraction welcomed over 15 international media crews including TV and radio stations from the UK, Italy, Germany, Russia and India.

Note to editors:

Guinness Storehouse is Ireland’s number one international visitor attraction, welcoming almost one million visitors per year.  Housed in the old Guinness fermentation plant, this seven-storey building takes visitors through the history of Guinness, the brewing process and Guinness advertising, culminating with a complimentary pint of Guinness in the roof-top Gravity Bar with 360 degree views of Dublin city.  Guinness Storehouse is also home to the Guinness Flagship Retail Store, the Guinness Company Archive, the Guinness themed Brewery Bar restaurant and the Arthur Guinness Business Centre.

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For further information, please contact:
Mark McGovern, Media Relations
E: mark.mcgovern@diageo.com
M: +353 86 34 88 322