While it doesn’t seem like we’ll get the 80-degree temperatures of last year, with Saint Patrick’s Day falling on a Sunday this year we do have the benefit of a whole weekend full of events. Saint Paul will be green all day Saturday and Sunday with live music, food and drink and probably a few people puking into their pot o' gold.
If you can only make it for one day this weekend, however, make it Saturday. The official Patty's Day Block Party, shutting down 7th Street from Kellogg to Walnut, starts at two in the afternoon, and most of the area’s hotspots will be open long before that: you’ll be able to belly up to the bar as early as eight in the morning. Might be excessive, but it’s Saint Patrick’s Day. It’s all about excess.
The 47th annual parade will start at noon, and will follow the path down 5th street from Lowertown to Rice Park, wrapping up by wrapping around the park and ending on 4th Street.
There will be free public transportation all night long (starting at six), aka a guaranteed designated driver, so click here to find your route. For those driving, here is where to park.
If you can keep going through Sunday, or if you’re a purist and only want to party on Saint Patrick's actual Day, the same stretch of bars on 7th are still the place to be, though sans block party. O’Gara’s on Snelling will have its usual (enormous) tent up, and Billy's on Grand is getting into the spirit as well, cooking corned beef and cabbage all day long to accompany a pint or two. Even though the parade is on Saturday, there will still be plenty of party left in Saint Paul for Sunday.
Last year was raucous and fun, a true representation of Saint Paul’s Saint Patrick’s Day spirit.
We’ll see what happens this year.
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