It is hoped the St Patrick's Festival in Dublin will become a month-long celebration within the next 10 years.
This year's five-day festival will take place between March 14th and 18th under the theme of 'Storytelling'.
Festival organisers have said as well as promoting our heritage, the festival is a chance to "truly reflect on the zeitgeist of Ireland, what inspires us and challenges us today."
It has achieved major growth and success in recent years - with 500,000 people attending the parade and overall benefiting the economy by over €73m.
St Patrick's Festival is funded by Fáilte Ireland, Dublin City Council and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
It is thought some 3,000 people will take part in the main parade, which will be watched by around 500,000 people along the streets of the capital.
Festival CEO Susan Kirby has said the aim is to grow the event into a month-long event by 2029.
"We have been working with community groups for the last number of months, and we've already achieved some of that ambition.
"We've a really rich international programme last year and this - so it's part of our ambition to continue to grow those activities and to have a month long celebration which pivots around the week in March".
