PARKVILLE, Md. — A Parkville Irish dance school is hitting the local pub and restaurant scene this St. Patrick's Day weekend, performing at dozens of locations across Baltimore and Harford counties as part of an annual fundraiser.
The Doherty Petri School of Irish Dance, founded in 1991 by sisters Karen and Lisa Petri, has grown into a nationally recognized program with locations throughout the United States and Ireland. The school's most recent location opened in Parkville, Maryland, just over 3 years ago.
In addition to teaching traditional Irish dance and preparing students for international competition, the Petri family created the Petri Foundation to support their dancers financially.
47 stops. 6 days. One incredible Irish dance crew! Will you spot them near you?
Renny Hess, an adult student dancer, described the foundation's mission.
"The purpose of the foundation is to support our dancers. They provide scholarships, travel, stipend training, opportunities for our dancers," Hess said.
Co-founder Lisa Petri explained how the foundation helps make international competition possible.
"To be able to do this international program and be able to compete overseas we help with the airfares we help with lodging so we do a lot of fundraising every year," Petri said.
One of the school's biggest fundraisers is a St. Patrick's Day pub crawl, during which dancers perform at local restaurants and breweries across both counties.
"We are going to be visiting I think we're up to 47 locations in Baltimore and Harford County so starting on Thursday, March 12 and going through Tuesday, March 17, which is St. Patrick's Day," Petri said.
Weekday performances will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday performances will run from noon until 7 p.m.
Dancer Caroline Wigtenburg said the packed schedule is a challenge the group is embracing.
"It's obviously so fun that you get to go and perform for everyone around Baltimore. It's tiring, but I know I love doing it and I know the rest of my friends love it too," Wigtenburg said.
Petri reflected on what the experience means for the dancers beyond the performances themselves.
"It's going to be exhausting because they're going morning till night for a few days in a row, but it's some of the times where they're going to make the most memories and the best friendships and that's where they're going to carry through when they you know actually leave dancing and go on to university and stuff," Petri said.
The pub crawl also serves as a way for the school to honor Irish dance tradition and build local community support. The dancers' next major competition will be the North American Irish Dance Championships in July.
For more information on the pub crawl, click here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
