Six spirited ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Sacramento
From a pedal-powered pub crawl to a bagpipe-powered parade, here are six lively ways to live it up in Sactown this St. Paddy’s Day.
St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland
March 15 The Harris Center in Folsom will host a St. Patrick’s Day celebration of Irish music and dance, featuring the three-member Kerry Voice Squad, who will sing classics like “Danny Boy” and “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” and will be accompanied by musicians on traditional instruments like fiddles, uilleann pipes, flutes, guitars, banjos and the bodhrán drum. Irish dancers will also jig under the leadership of Connor Reider, who is part of the professional dance troupe Celtic Fyre and has performed with six-time Grammy Award-winning band The Chieftains. $18-33. 7:30 p.m. 10 College Pkwy. Folsom. 916-608-6888. harriscenter.net
St. Paddy's Day Party & Bar Crawl
March 16-17 Old Sacramento will go green for this first-ever two-day bash at SacTown Sports Bar & Grill. Patrons can take selfies with the bar’s resident leprechaun, order food like Irish nachos (aka French fries with corned beef) or our favorite entrée, the brown butter burger, and sip green beer, Guinness and local brews from the likes of Auburn Alehouse and Track 7. On Friday night, the bar will host a free crawl to other neighborhood haunts like O'Mally's Irish Pub and Fanny Ann's Saloon, and at 10 p.m, Irish punk trio OnOff—which has opened for bands like Fall Out Boy, Bad Religion and Funeral for a Friend—will rock SacTown Sports Bar into the wee hours. The party will continue on Saturday evening with sets from DJ Double J. Free. Bar crawl: Fri. from 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Party: Sat. from 4-11 p.m. 106 J St. 916-662-7743. sactownsportsbar.com
St. Patrick’s Day Parade
March 17 More than 35,000 spectators are expected to turn out for this 22nd annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Old Sacramento, featuring 1,000 marchers and performances from the Shamrock Club of Sacramento bagpipers and the Scottish-American Military Society to Irish dancers in Celtic costumes from the Kennelly School of Irish Dance and McKeever School of Irish Dance. At 2 p.m., stick around to watch five-piece Irish folk band The Mighty Murphys fill the cross streets of 2nd and K with the sounds of flutes, fiddles and mandolins. Free. 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Parade starts at Neasham Circle and Front Street (right by Laughs Unlimited) at 1 p.m. 916-970-5226. oldsacramento.com
St. Patrick’s Day Beer & Wine Tasting Train
March 17 Sip beer from Rancho Cordova’s Fort Rock Brewing Company and vino from local wineries like Berryessa Gap and Michael David Winery during this two-and-a-half-hour Sacramento RiverTrain excursion which will take place on St. Patrick’s Day evening, featuring blues-rock from Sacramento quartet The EZ Street Band. Passengers are encouraged to wear green and will also receive a complimentary corned beef and cabbage sandwich to fill their hollow keg amid sips of beer and wine as the train travels 14 miles from West Sacramento toward Woodland through bucolic farmland and across the scenic Yolo County Wildlife Refuge. $75 ($45 for designated driver ticket). 7 p.m. 800-866-1690. sacramentorivertrain.com
deVere’s Irish Pub
March 17 Irish eyes are smiling year-round at deVere’s Irish pubs in Sacramento and Davis, and the jolly St. Paddy’s Day holiday is no exception, with Guinness, Jameson and other libations flowing all day long, beginning at 6 a.m. at the Sacramento location and at 10 a.m. in Davis. The pubs will also dish out traditional favorites like Irish hash, corned beef and cabbage and pub “chips” (fries smothered in mushrooms, onions, sharp cheddar and gravy). Neighboring club Mix Downtown and eatery Firestone Public House will join in the all-day (and all-night) fun: Local DJ Gabe Xavier will rock Mix during a corned beef brunch starting at 11 a.m., while DJ Mike Moss will spin at Firestone starting at 8:30 p.m. Downtown: 1521 L St. 916-231-9947. Davis: 217 E St. 530-204-5533. deverespub.com
Sac Brew Bike Tours
March 17 Use your pedal power on daytime and nighttime pub crawls through downtown and midtown on a 15-passenger bike lined with beads and green streamers that will take revelers to 40-minute stops at local bars like Kupros Craft House, Der Biergarten and Tank House BBQ & Bar, the latter of which will be serving up a green pilsner made by Auburn Alehouse, along with a smoked corned beef sandwich with beer-braised cabbage and house-made Dijon. And if you can’t nab a spot on the brew bike, fear not; the Sac Brew Bike Bar at 9th and O streets will have tipples from the likes of Big Stump, Two Rivers Cider and Oak Park Brewing Company, as well as $2 Guinness pours. Prices and times vary. 916-952-7973. sacbrewbike.com
You Might Also Like
Celebrated French cafe to move into larger downtown spot
Totally tuber-lar: SactoMoFo hosts inaugural Sac Fry Fest
Fizz champagne bar to open in Downtown Commons
