Luck of the Irish celebrations all over town on March 17.
By Leo B. Carter
St. Patrick‘s Day is a solemn day of remembrance dedicated to the patron saint of Ireland, banisher of snakes, whose walking stick took root and grew into a tree. Wait. Who am I kidding? St. Paddy’s Day is that one day of the year when you can get away with making—in fact, you’re encouraged to make—a drunken fool of yourself. You drink and you drink and hopefully you can’t remember how horrible you felt the following morning the next time St. Patrick’s Day rolls around. On this day, everyone is Irish, and the spirit of brotherhood—well lubricated with Irish beer and whiskey—can be found everywhere you see green.
Celtic Cultural Center of Texas’ St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
The Celtic Cultural Center of Texas invites you to a day of authentic Irish traditions, drink and cuisine. There will be no green beer. No green beer? You heard right, just high-quality Irish imports in the color they were intended to be. The event will include some nationally and internationally renowned Irish musical and dance acts. The Makem and Spain Brothers, Girsa, The Silver Thistle Pipes and Drums and Aidan will perform at the festival. The menu for they day includes fish and chips, Irish po’boys and corned beef and cabbage. There will, of course, be all the Irish beer you could want on tap. This is an all-ages event, so bring the whole family and get the kids involved with Inishfree, Austin’s own Irish dance school.
The event runs from 3 to 9 p.m. at the Shoal Crossing Event Center. For more information and tickets, visit stpatricksdayaustin.com/.
Fadό Irish Pub St. Paddy’s Day Bash
The staff at Fadό issue a challenge to Austin’s seasoned drinkers: “Commit yourself” to a day of “unequaled partying.” Whatever that may mean, prepare yourself for some serious drinking and clear your schedule for the following morning. Fadό was actually constructed in Ireland and shipped to its current location in Austin’s warehouse district to make sure it was authentically Irish enough.
Doors open at the crack of 6 a.m. Thefourth annual Kegs and Eggs drunken breakfast and 101X radio broadcast is from 8 to 10 a.m. From 10 a.m. to midnight, live music will play on two stages, including some local Celtic talent: the Tea Merchants; Hair of the Dog; Sunday in Leith; the U2 tribute band, Wow U2 and Irish rock band Blaggards. At 2 p.m., the Irish Dancers and Silver Thistle Bag Pipers will deliver some impressive waste-down dancing and authentic—if piercing—Gaelic pipe music.
Fadó is located at 214 W. Fourth St. Advance $10 tickets are on sale now at eventbrite.com/e/fado-irish-pub-austin-st-patricks-day-bash-tickets-10534925245. Tickets $15 at the door for 21 and older after 4 p.m.
Austin’s Official St. Paddy’s Day Bar Crawl
Barcrawls.com is gearing up for the sloppiest weekend of the year with an Austin bar crawl sure to leave a wake of drunken destruction. There are one-day passes ($10) and three-day passes ($20) spanning the whole weekend for the diehard drinkers. You can register on the 14th or any day of the event from 5 to 10 p.m. at the location (TBD). These passes don’t get you free drinks everywhere but they do provide you with your wristband necessary for drink specials, a souvenir event cup and the map in case—OK, the likelihood—that you’re separated from the group. Rebels Honky Tonk, the Thirsty Nickel and Sully’s Side Bar are the only bars that have been announced so far, but ready yourself for a real marathon of drinking.
The crawls run from Saturday, March 15 at 11 a.m. through St. Paddy’s Day Monday. Get your tickets at barcrawls.com/events/austins-official-st-paddys-day-bar-crawl-3-16-13-43381.
Opal Divine’s invites the whole family to any one of their three locations this St. Paddy’s Day for some all-ages fun. There will be face painting for the kids and enough Guinness and Irish whiskey to keep people drinking all day long. To soak up some of the booze, they’ll be serving hardy Irish stew and fish and chips. Outdoor stages at all three locations will have live music from some of Austin’s local talent. Acts include Rich Brotherton and Ed Miller, Silver Thistle Pipe and Drum Corps, Poor Man’s Fortune, Bedlam Bards, Black Irish, Mike Ryan Coyotes, Michael Fracasso and Shirley and Jesse.
Opal Divine’s Marina and South Congress Avenue locations will open at 11 a.m. for the festival and the Davenport location will open bright an early at 7 a.m. for a full Irish breakfast. It is free and open to all ages. Although Opal’s is usually dog friendly, they do request that you leave Fido behind on this busy festival day.
Location information:
- Opal Divine’s Marina, 12709 N. MoPac Expressway
- Opal Divine’s Penn Field, 3601 S. Congress Ave.
- Opal Divine’s Davenport, 3801 S. Capital of Texas Hwy.
