The Wee Craic brings Irish culture to L.B.

A new dose of Irish culture is coming to the West End in the form of the Wee Craic, an annual showing of Irish short films and music.

The 15th annual Wee Craic will take place on Friday, Oct. 3 at The Jetty Bar & Grill, at 832 W. Beech St. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with an open bar presented by Imperial Beer until 8 p.m. The film screening starts at 8 p.m. Three oscar-nominated, Irish short films — “The Missing Scarf,” “Pentecost” and “Granny O’Grimm” — will be shown. A performance by renowned Irish musician Mark Dignam will follow.

“There’s not much going on after Irish Day,” festival director Terence Mulligan said. “We thought it would be a great time to do something like this. We wanted to bring the Irish arts and culture that’s missing here in the fall, and expose people to award-winning shorts that they wouldn’t usually see.”

The night is a condensed version of the larger Craic Festival held every March in New York City. The Wee Craic has also traditionally been held in the city, but Mulligan thought that Long Beach and the West End, especially because of its prominent population of Irish and Irish-American residents, would be a good fit to host the event.

“We had a great run the past 15 years, but it’s time to branch out to the other Irish outside of New York City, such as the Rockaway, Breezy and Long Beach Irish contingency,” Mulligan said.

For more information, visit www.craicfest.com