There was extra reason to celebrate St Patrick's Day for Catherine Clunies-Ross: free Guinness for a year.
Clunies-Ross was the proud winner of the Irish Club's Guinness perfect pour competition on Wednesday, earning herself a free pint of the Irish nectar every week until next St Patrick's Day.
It's the second time Clunies-Ross has won the prize. She, like many other Canberran's, celebrate St Patrick's Day at the Irish Club every year.
The club was filled with a burst of colour and excitement on Thursday, with dancing, music, and a lot of Guinness on the cards to celebrate the Irish holiday.
Irish Club president Mary Collier has been the organiser of the club's festivities for the day for more than a decade, and says preparations for this year's celebrations feels different to 2021.
"We're expecting a lot more people this year, I think as people come out of COVID, and they start to feel a bit more confident in being vaccinated and knowing things are going to be taken care off, I think more people will be here today" Collier said.
There was a lot of activity in the crowd during the midday lunch period, with groups of friends and families stopping by to grab some food and enjoy the music.
One such group, of which Christine Bassingthwaite is a part of, make it an annual event. They have enjoyed the Irish Club's celebrations every year they have been in Canberra, and Bassingthwaite says that it's nice to be able to get out and about without needing to worry about COVID restrictions.
The Irish Club has held several events throughout the week as part of the celebrations, such as Irish dancers, a selection of live music performances including Simon Bussmann and Frock n'Troll, and a film night on Wednesday.
One of the highlights of the day, according to Collier, is the Irish song session, where musicians in the community are invited to show up and collaborate on a performance of Irish tunes and folk songs.
"Some of them know each other, and will have played together before, but it means that anybody could come, its a public session" Collier said.
"Sessions can tend to go on a while, you'll find that when they get going in a session they'll just carry on".
The session, and several of the events throughout the day, were overseen by the Canberra branch of Comhaltas, a group formed in Dublin in 1951 and dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Irish culture internationally.
