The 23rd annual Irish American Heritage Festival is July 11, 12 and 13, 2008.

Irish Fest showcases the finest in local and international Irish and American music, dance and family activities.

What makes this fest unique to the hundreds in Chicago during fest season is the entertainment, statistics and interesting ingredients that go into making this fest one of the city's most successful.

The festival features three days of music on seven stages, featuring headliners Gaelic Storm, The Makem and Spain Brothers, The Young Dubliners, The Tossers, Seven Nations and Solas.

Some of the interesting facts are listed below. All statistics are approximate and just for fun!

One ton of sunburned skin Hundreds of thousands of freckles
12,000 attendees throughout the weekend
9,442 pints of properly poured Guinness
4,320 strawberries used for smoothies at the Malt Shoppe booth
3,000 feet of plastic table covers
2,000 books for sale at the Second Hand Prose and Poetry Used Book Sale, used only by saints and scholars
1,800 lbs. of French fries consumed at Winston's Market booth
1,413 faces painted in the kids' area
1,345 green tee shirts
600 lbs. of Irish sausage consumed at the Winston's Market booth
600 lbs. of corned beef consumed at the Winston's Market booth
400 lbs. of gyros meat consumed from the Zorba the Greek booth
300 pairs of Dr. Marten's Boots, worn by fans of the band, the Tossers, who perform on Friday night
280 dancing feet from children's Irish Dance schools
250 kegs of beer 185 days of fest preparation by volunteers
150 chocolate Hershey's Kisses eaten at the Hooley Happy Hour
125 gallons of ice cream consumed at the Malt Shoppe
110 Irish sweaters purchased from Irish import shops
100 ceili dancers
90 kilts worn by bagpipers, with no known figure on the apparel that may or may not be under such kilts
38 musical groups
25 fiddle players
14 matches made in heaven at the Hooley Happy Hour Singles Event
12 raffle prizes, including a trip to Ireland from American Airlines
10 bodhran drummers
10 times the Irish tune Dublin in the Rare Old Times will be performed
8 porta-potties, rented by the cleverly named Leprachans Company
7 performance stages
6 Irish Dance schools
5 writers from Dublin, Ireland, reading their work
5 Irish theatre groups, performing one-act plays
4 children under the age of 10, belting out Danny Boy at the ShamROCK Stars Singing Contest
3 days of music
2 harpists
2 Uilleann Pipe Players
2 bands whose names claim they are brothers, but who are not really related
2 people who got engaged at the Fest in 2007
1 cello player
1 Polish-American Tenor, Mark Piekarz, singing Irish ballads and Doobie Brothers tunes
1 giant party for kids, with the Radio Disney Road Crew
1 tea-leaf reader
1 Moon Jump for kids
0 number of Irish sweaters worn…come on, it's July!
And………….ONE GOOD TIME!

To purchase advance sale tickets, call 773-282-7035, ext. 10. For more information on the fest, visit www.irishfestchicago.com

Tickets: $12 per day; $8 in advance until the end of day on July 10; seniors $7, and children under 12 free when accompanied by a paid adult.
Hours: Fri., 6-midnight; Sat., noon-midnight; Sun., noon-11 p.m.
Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630