After pandemic hiatus, St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Winnipeg come back with a bang

It's his band's biggest gig in years, but ahead of St. Patrick's Day this Thursday, Blair McEvoy says he and his bandmates in The Dust Rhinos didn't even want to discuss it out of fear they might be getting their hopes up for nothing.  

"We were really nervous about something happening to cancel the gig, like a big outbreak and everything going back into lockdown. So like a month ago, we didn't even talk about this gig," he said. 

The Dust Rhinos and other performers around Winnipeg are warming up for their first shows since all pandemic restrictions were lifted in Manitoba earlier this week. 

The band is set to play before a live audience at the West End Cultural Centre Thursday night, a departure from their gig last year where they played to four robotic cameras for a video stream. 

"It was still really great because we were still playing music and that was really awesome, but it was a little awkward because I like to actually focus on people in the crowd and that wasn't there," he said. 

The band has played gigs since then, but they were mostly to audiences that had to be seated due to restrictions in place at the time. 

"We're pretty excited about tonight. They're going to have a dance floor, so we're going to be hoping people use it," he said. 

After two years of mostly Zoom lessons and few performances, dancers at McConnell Irish Dance have had a busy week stepping, stomping and jigging for in-person audiences. 

Ripley Havens, 18, who has been dancing with the studio since she was two years old, says it's been thrilling to get back in front of a live audience.

"It's so energetic. We're clapping on stage. We're smiling and having a good time, and the audience … it's just back-and-forth good feedback. They're just smiling along with us."

The studio's been in the McConnell family for three generations after they came to Winnipeg from Northern Ireland in 1947.

The troupe has won competitions around the globe, and were set to compete in Ireland in 2020 before the pandemic hit. 

That plan is now back on for this summer, along with several other performances scheduled in the coming months, says Shayleen McConnell Finucan, the studio's director and choreographer.

It's a welcome change of pace for the dancers, who are happy to be together again, she says.