THE PHOENIX PARK hosts two days of football, live music, food, entertainment and multi-culturalism as part of the annual Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) Soccerfest this weekend.
In its 18th year, the event aims to tackle the ongoing problem of racism and promote respect, cultural integration and social inclusion by bringing together groups from a variety of backgrounds and nations.
There will be four tournaments contested over the weekend with 40 men’s teams and eight women’s as well as competitions for U13 and U15s sides while the cast of RTÉ drama Love/Hate will take on the SARI All-Stars on Sunday afternoon.
“Around 1997, a lot of people began to arrive in Ireland from different countries,” says SARI football co-ordinator Rob Taylor. “Unfortunately, with that came an increase in the number of racists incidents so the founders of SARI decided to do something about it.
“I first took part in the Soccerfest before getting involved with organising it. It’s always a great weekend so we encourage people to come along.”
Admission into the Garda Grounds in the Phoenix Park is free and activities will run from 11am-5am on Saturday and Sunday. For more information visits sari.ie or their Facebook page.
Check out this video from last year’s event:
Sport Against Racism Ireland / Vimeo