Luck of the Irish

Break out your green to avoid getting pinched on this lucky day filled with Irish beer and lots of corn beef and cabbage!  Who knows maybe there will be a pot of gold at the end of the festivities!!!

St. Patrick’s Day Parade

When: March 5, 2017

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Where: Veteran’s Park

Cost: Free

Tips from the Team: Arrive early and bring chairs!

Party in the Plaza

When: March 17, 2017

12:00 PM – 2:00 AM

Where:  Marco Walk Plaza

Enjoy live music and festivities in the plaza!

Fun Facts About St. Patrick’s Day – Impress Your Friends!!!!

1. Patrick is one of the most famous patron saints of Ireland. Acccording to the legend, he brought Christianity to the island, made the shamrock fashionable and freed Ireland from snakes.  This holiday marks St. Patrick’s death and has been observed as a religious holiday in Ireland for over 1500 years.
2. Ireland only officially started celebrating the day in 1903. Since the Emerald Isle is mainly Catholic and St. Patrick’s day usually falls on Lent, it used to be a quiet and religious holiday – until the 1960s when a law allowed pubs to open…hence St. Paddy’s Day.
3. Patrick is not actually an Irishman named Patrick : Born Maewyn Succat, the Irish patron saint was actually British. According to legend, he was sold into slavery in Ireland when he was a teenager, became religious, escaped back to England, became and ordained priest named Patrick and started converting all of the Irish Celtic pagans to Christianity.
4. According to legend, St. Patrick freed Ireland from snakes. According to biologists, there were never any actual snakes in Ireland.  The diplomatic explanation is that the snakes are a metaphor for paganism that was forced out by St. Patrick
5. It’s said that St. Patrick used shamrocks (clovers) to explain the holy trinity (God, Son and Holy Spirit) to the Irish. The Celts believed that each leaf of the clover has a meaning, so using clover leaves as a teaching material was fruitiful.  Patrick started several churches, schools and monasteries and made the clover popular.
6. It’s green as far as the eye can see – from hair to clothes and even food. We’re not talking spinach here but bagels, pancakes and even beer – if you can put green food coloring on it, it will be served on St. Patrick’s Day.  But the coloring fun doesn’t stop there: rivers, monuments and even ski resorts have all been turned green to commemorate the occasion.
7. Even though everyone does green, Patrick himself apparently preferred blue and proof can still be seen on old Irish flags. During the 1798 Irish Rebellion, wearing the clover and the color green became a symbol of nationalism – and it stuck
8. Besides the drinking and green wearing, watching or participating in a parade is the perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Interestingly enough the largest St. Paddy’s Day parades are held outside of Ireland as the Irish expat communities around the world are taking the festivities very seriously.
9. During St. Patrick’s Day, the worldwide consumption of Guinness almost triples – from 5.5 million pints on a regular day to 13 million pints!! Cheers!
10. Corned beef and cabbage is a classic dish that goes extremely well with all of that beer – even though the dish was “invented” by Irish immigrants in New York. This might explain why in the US, over 26 billion pounds of beef and over two billion pounds of cabbage are produced during the holiday.