• On April 25, Michael was presented as Entertainer of the Decade, at a black tie event organised by the Variety Club of Ireland, at Dublin’s Four Seasons
• On February 25, Michael Flatley was honoured with the Freedom of Sligo. The award was presented by Mayor Jonathan McGoldrick at a VIP ceremony at City Hall.

• In October, Michael received the "Spirit of Ireland" award from the Irish Arts Center in New York, for his support and promotion of Irish arts and culture, and in recognition of his "achievements and true legacy of introducing Irish dance to the world." Other well known attendees included Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne and Liam Neeson.
• The Freedom of the City of Cork was conferred on Michael Flatley at a ceremony in City Hall on June 2, in recognition of "his achievements as a world class performer and a person of outstanding artistic talent." Past recipients include President John F. Kennedy, President Mary McAleese, John Hume and Roy Keane.

• January 15, Michael was awarded an Honorary Life Membership of the University College Dublin Law Society.
• May 15, Michael received the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor in New York. Each year, the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO) gives Ellis Island awards to ethnic Americans from all backgrounds who have made valuable professional and patriotic contributions. The awards pay tribute to those who have preserved the distinct values and heritage of their ancestors.
• October 30, Michael was honored at the annual Wild Geese Celtic Ball in Stamford, Connecticut for his outstanding achievements in promoting and preserving Irish culture and heritage. Previous honorees include President Mary McAleese of the Republic of Ireland; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, playwright Brian Friel, poet Seamus Heaney and traditional Irish musician Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains.
• November 3 - The national university of Ireland University College Dublin (UCD) awarded Mr. Michael Flatley an Honorary Doctorate in law as part of the University College Dublin’s 150th anniversary celebrations. Michael was recognized for his contribution to the arts.

• March 14, at The Plaza Hotel in New York, Michael received the prestigious Irish American of the Year award from Irish America Magazine for his outstanding commitment and dedication to Irish dance and Irish culture worldwide.
• May 31, Michael performed for world leaders at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin at the 300th Anniversary Celebration of St Petersburg, Russia. The gala was attended by 50 world leaders including US President George W. Bush, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and China's Head of State, Jiang Zemin.
• August 8, Michael staged a special performance with his dancers to benefit the Red Cross of Monaco. The annual Red Cross Ball takes place at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club where this year, His Serene Highness Prince Albert presented Michael with a Grimaldi Dynasty Award Medal for his contribution to the world of dance.
• September 9, Michael met with the legendary Nelson Mandela in South Africa. The former president, who personally requested the meeting, honored Michael as the biggest selling artist in South African history and presented him with an original numbered copy of his book, Long Walk to Freedom.
• September 29, after a spectacular opening night performance by Troupe One at the Apollo Hammersmith Theatre in London, Sir Cliff Richard presented Michael with a silver salver to commemorate the achievement of $500,000,000 in Lord of the Dance ticket sales worldwide.
• October 8, at the Celtic Ball held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, Michael received an award from the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the USA (ICCUSA) for his outstanding contribution to the Arts and Entertainment.
• October 11, Lord of the Dance celebrated its fifth sensational year in Las Vegas. At an after-show celebration, Tony Award Winner Ben Vereen presented Michael with awards from the offices of both Mayor Goodman and Governor Kenny Guinn. Saturday, October 11, was proclaimed "Michael Flatley Lord of the Dance Day" in the city of Las Vegas and Clark County by Mayor Oscar Goodman, and declared "Michael Flatley Day" in the state of Nevada by Gov. Kenny Guinn.

• In January, Michael was awarded Germany's top Music Video Prize for Feet of Flames, which has sold over 450,000 copies. He also collected a trophy for sales in excess of 9 times platinum.
• In March, President Clinton presented Michael with the Irish-America Lifetime Achievement Award.
• In June Michael brought Feet of Flames, The Victory Tour to the US thrilling his US fans and fulfilling his dream of performing before a sold out audience at Madison Square Garden.
• In December, Michael was the guest of honor at the annual Christmas luncheon given by the Variety Club of Great Britain. There he received an award from the Irish Dancing Commission appointing him the first Fellow of An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha with an Honorary Higher Diploma in recognition of his services to Irish Dancing. The Irish Dancing Teachers' Association of North America also presented him with a silver platter making him a lifetime member.

• In March, Michael took Feet of Flames to Europe performing before sold-out crowds including a performance before 100,000 people in Budapest, Hungary.
• Michael was again acknowledged as the highest paid dancer by the Guinness Book of World Records

• Michael was recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the highest paid dancer earning $1,600,000 per week and for having the highest insurance premium placed on a dancer's legs at $40,000,000.
• In December in New York City, Hilary Clinton presented Michael with the Outstanding Irish-American of the Century award.

• After 390 performances in the title role of Lord of the Dance, Michael took his art to a new level with Feet of Flames. First staged in front of an audience of over 25,000 people on July 25, in Hyde Park, in London's historic Route of Kings, Feet of Flames is the largest, most extravagant dance show ever produced.
• The Feet of Flames and Lord of the Dance videos are two of the biggest selling performance videos of all time. They spent a staggering 51 weeks at the top of the German music video charts and 40 weeks in the number two position.
• In February, Michael broke his own Guinness Book record by achieving an amazing 35 taps per second.
• Lord of the Dance performed a record-breaking run of 21 shows at the legendary Wembley Arena in London.
• In March, The Late Late Show aired a tribute to Michael on National Irish Television where he received a specially commissioned Waterford crystal statue in his own image.

• In March, Lord of the Dance hit the US with 13 consecutive sold out performances at Radio City Music Hall.
• Michael and the Lord of the Dance troupe performed live at the Academy Awards show in Hollywood seen by over 2.5 billion people worldwide.
• Chicago's Mayor Daley declared April 4, 1997 "Michael Flatley Day" in the City of Chicago.
• In December, the Irish Entertainment Awards bestowed on Michael their Performance of the Year Award for Lord of the Dance.

• July 2, Michael premiered his own show, Lord of the Dance, at The Point in Dublin, Ireland. The show set live performance and video sales records all over the world. In Australia 250,000 tickets sold out in 10 days.

• Riverdance was expanded to a full-length production and Michael became a super-star receiving critical acclaim from all quarters.

• Michael was the principal star and choreographer of Riverdance, the featured highlight of the Eurovision Song Contest seen by over 300 million television viewers worldwide.

• Michael was invited to dance at the Spirit of Mayo in Dublin, a unique festival of Irish Dance and music. The audience included Irish President Mary Robinson.

• Michael was declared a living treasure by the National Geographic Society and was featured in an article in the January issue of National Geographic Magazine, titled Masters of Traditional Arts.

• Setting his first world record for tap dancing speed at an astonishing 28 taps per second, Michael was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records on May 9.

• Michael became the youngest person in history to be awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from President Ronald Reagan and the National Endowment for the Arts, recognizing him as one of America's greatest living artists.

• Michael was the recipient of the prestigious Master of Dance Award for his exceptional contribution to the art of dance.

• Michael began touring as a featured performer with The Chieftains, a world famous traditional Irish band.

• Michael released his first flute album which included three original compositions as well as traditional Irish melodies.

• At the age of 17, Michael became the first American in history to win the World Championships for Irish Dance, thus crowning a competitive Irish dancing career in which he won 168 consecutive first place dance championships in competitions worldwide.
• He won the first of his All-Ireland Flute Championships. More would follow on the road to becoming a celebrated flautist.