Palatine celebrates St. Pat's Day with Paint the Town Green events

Palatine will ‘Paint the Town Green’ on Saturday, March 14th with the community’s fifth annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration which includes a parade, Irish Market and festivities in various businesses throughout the town.

“We’ve planned a family-friendly day of activities to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day,” said event coordinator, Liz Noe of ElizEvents. “We’ll have Irish food, drink, entertainment, shopping and we’ll be collecting items to support the homeless and near-homeless served by Journeys the Road Home. This is going to be a great day to be Irish or pretend to be Irish.”

The parade, which begins at 11:00 AM, will feature 50 entries including Grand Marshals Lucky McClover and Katie M’Lady. Irish music will be provided by the Midlothian Scottish Bag Pipe Band. The Trinity Irish Dancers, The Lucky Little Leprechauns of Dorset Avenue and The Palatine Paddy Wagons will also add to the entertainment.

The parade and Irish Market will serve to collect donations for Journeys the Road Home, an organization serving the homeless and near-homeless in the north and northwest suburbs. During the parade marchers with shopping carts will collect food, clothing and disposable paper products for the organization. The parade begins at the corner of Wood and Oak Streets in downtown Palatine and continues west on Wood to Smith and north to Colfax.

The festivities will begin with an Irish Market under a tent outside of Durty Nellie’s located at 180 North Smith Street in downtown Palatine. The Irish Market will run from 8:00 AM until 1:00 PM and will feature 14 vendors selling treats, jewelry, Irish trinkets and more. Some of the vendors include Bonker’s Gifts, Bead World, Ditka’s Arlington Heights and Trinity Irish Dancers.

The Irish Market will also provide musical and dance entertainment. In addition to Irish favorites, there will be a variety of music throughout the day. From 9:45 AM until 10:15 AM, the Trinity Irish Dancers will perform and show why their dance school has won 17 World Championships in dance. The final performance at the Irish Market will feature the Irish music of Dr. Gerry Aylward and Cuchulain from 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM.

“Entertainment is being planned at a number of local businesses, bars and restaurants throughout the day,” said Noe. “Some of the establishments that are participating are Durty Nellie’s, Emmett’s Ale House, Tap House Grill and the American Legion. A full schedule of events is available on our web site at www.stpatspalatine.com. This festival is going to be a full day of fun for the whole family!”

Durty Nellie’s will offer an Irish breakfast menu from 9:00 AM until 11:00 AM and continue with Irish food and drink specials as well as music throughout the day. Their tentative schedule starts at Noon with the Midlothian Scottish Bag Pipe Band and 1:15 PM until 1:45 PM with Trinity Irish Dancers. Kevin Flynn & The Avondale Ramblers perform from 2:15 PM to 3:45 PM followed by Character Fleadh from 4:30 PM until 6:00 PM. Screw City Saints take the stage from 6:30 PM until 8:30 PM and Stache plays from 9:30 PM until 10:30 PM. The final performance of the evening starting at 11:00 PM until 1:30 AM will be Modern Day Romeos.

Adjacent to Durty Nellie’s, Smith Street Station will also be having live entertainment. Small Potatoes will be performing from 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM. Brian ‘Tinker’ Leo will take the stage from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM followed by Kevin Mileski from 8:00 PM until 10:00 PM. The American Legion will be serving corned beef sandwiches after the parade with a compliment of Irish drink specials including Irish Car Bombs, Black & Tans, Shamrock Shots and Sparkling Shamrocks.

Emmett’s Ale House will be serving Kegs & Eggs from 9:00 AM until 11:30 AM as well as corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie, horseradish salmon, corned beef sandwiches in addition to the regular menu throughout the day. After the parade at 1:00 PM, Emmett’s will conduct a firkin tapping ceremony of Emmett’s Rafferty Red beer where a spigot is driven into a small wooden keg with a wooden mallet. Mayor Jim Schwantz will officiate at the tapping. Following the tapping, the Palatine Township Republican Organization will hold a meet and greet. Entertainment continues at 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM with a bagpipes performance in the main bar.

Tap House Grill will be serving food “with an Irish twist” including Reuben barrels, Reuben sliders, Reuben sandwiches and corned beef and cabbage. Kegs & Eggs and an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet will be served from 8:00 AM until 1:00 PM. Tap House will be serving drink specials all weekend long including Green Trumer Pils drafts, Baby Guinness & Shamrock Shooters. A Bloody Mary and Mimosa bar will be open from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM.

The ‘Paint the Town Green’ event continues to enhance Palatine’s position as a destination town for public festivals. The premier sponsor and presenter of the festival is Durty Nellie’s. The media sponsor is the Daily Herald Media Group. Other sponsors include Class Landscaping, Pan American Bank, Chicagoland 4 Braces/Dr. Gerry Aylward Orthodontics, Lavelle Law, Eastern Illinois University at Harper College, Lake Shore Beverage and Hearing Care of Palatine.

For more information on the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, visit www.stpatspalatine.com or email info@stpatspalatine.com.