Bigger and louder St Patrick's Festival to last six days

The boom years may be over, but the revamped St Patrick's Festival which came with them shows no sign yet of slowing down.

Next to Budget Day, St Patrick's Day has been the most reliable barometer of the national mood from the mid- 1990s onwards: an era of fireworks, pageantry and dancing in the streets (and those were just the budgets).

In keeping with this role, the 2003 instalment of the mid-March festival should be a sober affair, with a slight downward adjustment in the altitude of stilt walkers, a parade theme of "prudence" and a ban on extravagant floats.

Instead, the plans outlined in Dublin last night are for the biggest and - at six days - the longest festival yet, with double-digit growth predicted in many areas.

The expansionist mood is nowhere more evident than in the March 17th parade itself. Throwing pessimism aside, the organisers have opted for a theme of "voyages and visions" and plan an 80 per cent increase in the number of performers, to 3,500. The parade will still take about 90 minutes, however, so the entertainment will not so much be longer as more intense.

Outlining the plans at the National Concert Hall, festival chief executive Maria Moynihan conceded that the message of the St Patrick's celebrations was never a "subtle" one.

Confirming that subtlety had not been invited this year either, she promised an event that would be "bigger, brighter, louder and longer" than before.

While the organisers have yet to name a parade grand marshal, the keynote is likely to be set by the bright and loud TG4 travel show presenter Hector Ó hEochagáin, who will lead the dancing at the now traditional Céilí Mór in St Stephen's Green after the parade.

Other favourites of recent years - including the Skyfest fireworks display on the River Liffey - are also retained in the extended line-up.

But by way of contrast, new events include an opening day symposium, "Talking Irish", in which a list of notables including Kerry football legend Mick O'Dwyer and Irish Times editor Geraldine Kennedy will examine the theme of "Irish success stories".

Dublin's newest infrastructural feature - the Spire - will have a role in the festival, at least as a backdrop to the parade. However, discussions are under way to incorporate the official opening into the week's events. With some uncertainty as to whether this should be performed by the Lord Mayor or by the popular local TD, Bertie Ahern, this ceremony could yet form part of the street theatre.