The 2022 Koroit Irish Festival will pay homage to the modern-day version of the town's earliest European settlers.
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The festival's 2022 theme is Koroit Irish Immigration #2, a nod to the town's latest band of intrepid adventurers, almost 170 years after the Irish first came to town in the 1850s.
Irish-born-and-raised Koroit and District resident Leeanne Parkinson has been named as the festival's ambassador, a title that has produced joy both in Koroit and Ireland.
"It's a real honour to be named ambassador, I told my mum and she said I would do Ireland proud," Mrs Parkinson said.
"What I love most about Koroit is that sense of community and how welcoming everyone is. The Koroit and Irish connection is very real, and that feeling of being made welcome is a big part of that."
Mrs Parkinson grew up in the small Irish town of Ballyconnell, in County Cavan.
Bit by the travel bug, Mrs Parkinson headed to London and Melbourne before moving to the Parkinson farm near Koroit to work on the family's dairy property. It was there she met and fell in love with one of the Parkinson boys, Adrian.
The couple married in 2016, with 65 Australian friends and family travelling to Ballyconnell with them for the wedding.
They returned to Australia and are now raising their three children, Keely, 3, Jack, 2, and Paddy, 10 months, on their dairy farm at Kirkstall.
Mrs Parkinson will play a starring role at the 2022 Koroit Irish Festival, which will be held on the weekend of April 29-May 1.
Tickets go on sale this Sunday at 2pm, at: www.koroitirishfestival.com.au.
Koroit Irish Festival president Adele McDonald encouraged anyone wanting to attend the 2022 festival to get in early.
"The full weekend tickets always move very quickly, the Friday night is certainly a very special occasion," Mrs MacDonald said.
"Having Leeanne as a special guest this year will be wonderful, it will be amazing to hear such an incredible story of a young woman finding her way across the world to land in Koroit, like so many Irish people have in the past."
Mrs MacDonald said the Friday night concert would also include an Irish themed sing-along and quiz, as well as soon to be named festival headline acts.
After being one of the first major events cancelled in 2020 when COVID-19 hit, the festival had more luck with timing in 2021. Easing of restrictions meant the festival was able to go ahead under relaxed COVID settings, with 4000 people enjoying the fun.
The COVID environment meant for the first time in the festival's history, all tickets were sold online. The online ticket purchasing was a hit, with Saturday-Sunday tickets selling out in the week leading into the festival.
The full weekend ticket, which included the Friday opening night concert, had sold out within a week of going on sale at the start of the year.
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