Lucky You: A Guide To Celebrating St. Pat's Day The Tampa Bay Way

TAMPA BAY, FL -- Now that Tampa has been named America's fifth best city for celebrating St. Patrick's Day, residents are preparing to live up to the hype.

Here are some ideas for ways to celebrate this American holiday for those with an authentic Irish heritage and those with an Irish heritage at heart.

Mayor's River O' Green Fest

Among the big celebrations that helped earn Tampa its No. 5 ranking is the annual St. Patrick's Day Mayor's River O' Green Fest that kicks off with the symbolic dying of the Hillsborough River a vivid, eco-friendly green.

The eighth annual festival will take place Saturday, March 16 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, 600 N. Ashley Drive, Tampa. This signature event of the Tampa Downtown Partnership includes live entertainment, games, kids activities, food trucks and, of course, beer.
Festivities will kick off with the River O' Green Gallop, a fun run/walk along the Riverwalk and continue with a family scavenger hunt, a Leprechaun costume contest, as well as the River O'Green Scavenger Hunt for adults.

Registration for the River O' Green Gallop will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the race take off at 10 a.m. Registration is $30 and proceeds go to the Bob Gilbertson Central City YMCA's Annual Campaign. Click here to register.

Shamrock Scavenger Hunt

The third annual Shamrock Scavenger Hunt for adults, featuring open and corporate divisions, will take place at Saturday starting at 4 p.m. at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in Tampa.

Registration will take place from noon to 4 p.m. Teams will venture into downtown Tampa and along the Riverwalk to complete 20 tasks in six hours or less at participating bars, venues and parks. Tickets are $20 and benefit Meals on Wheels of Tampa. Tickets include one free beer at the River O'Green Fest sponsored by Heineken, St.Patrick's Day souvenir beads, free streetcar rides until 1:30 a.m. and entry into the raffle for prizes including a $7,000 Cayman Islands four-day vacation.

Rough Riders St. Patrick's Day Parade

It wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day in Tampa without the annual Rough Riders St. Patrick's Day Parade down 7th Avenue in historic Ybor City. The parade will take place after the Mayor's River O' Green Fest on March 16 from 7 to 11 p.m.

The parade will start at 7th Avenue and Nick Nuccio Parkway, proceed east along 7th Avenue to 20th Street where it will be disband north on 20th Street.

There also will be other St. Pat's activities throughout Ybor City leading up to the parade.

St. Patrick's Day At Armature Works

The Armature Works, 1920 N. Ola Ave., Tampa, will host a free St. Patrick's Day celebration on the front lawn Saturday, March 16 from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. with traditional Irish step dancers, Irish music, an Urban Kai paddle-board pop-up, the Monkey Mixer Whiskey Cocktail Truck, as well as a corned beef and cabbage special from Butcher n Barbecue inside the Heights Public Market.

Attendees wanting to purchase tickets to the Urban Kai paddle-board pop-up can do so here.

Click here for the complete schedule of events.

Irish 31’s Paddyfest

Eight years ago, Irish 31 Pub House & Eatery at 1611 W. Swann Ave., hosted its first Paddyfest Street Festival in Hyde Park Village, and it's grown by leaps and bounds.

With the addition of three new Irish 31 locations in Tampa Bay, the Paddyfest has evolved into a week-long celebration culminating with the street festival down Rome Avenue on Saturday from noon to 11:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The festivities will kick off Saturday with bands performing on the Guinness Main Stage, including Cowboy Mouth, Thomas Wynn and The Believers, Bumpin Uglies and Forrest Hoffar, and parties at every pub.

The festivities continue Sunday with an Irish-inspired Sunday Funday with Seven Nations and Actual Bank Robbers performing from the Guinness Main Stage. There will be flip cup, corn hole and trash can beer pong tournaments as well.

Click here for more details.

St. Patrick's Day Street Party

For the 11th annual year, the Brass Tap at the Shops at Wiregrass, 2000 Piazza Ave., Wesley Chapel, will host its St. Patrick's Day Street Party.

The outdoor party will take place Saturday, March 16 from 2 to 10 p.m. and include live music and Irish drink specials. This is a dog-friendly event.

The party will continue inside the Brass Tap on Sunday as well..

For information, click here.

O'Brien's St. Paddy's Day Celebration

O'Brien's Irish Pub, 701 W. Lumdsen Road, Brandon, will host its annual St. Paddy's Day celebration all weekend

The festivities get underway on Saturday, March 16, at 8 a.m. with the Brandon Running Club's 41st annual Shamrock Classic.

Get your team or run club together and come out to join Brandon Running for the Shamrock Classic 10K, 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run with post-race food, beer and medals for 10K and 5K finishers. All race proceeds benefit Ainsley's Angels in Florida and Operation Helping Hand - Tampa Chapter.

Click here to register.

The festivities continue at O'Brien's Irish Pub from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. with the music of Justin Walden as he stops off at O'Brien's as part of his Meet Me in Nashville Tour 2019. There is no cover charge.

The party continues under the big tent on Sunday, March 17 from noon to 9:30 p.m. featuring the music of Nobody Cares from noon to 3 p.m. and the Scream Machine from 7 to 9:30 p.m. with Irish food and drink specials in between.

Click here for information.

MacDinton's Goes Green

Everyone knows that Tampa wouldn't have made No. 5 in the nation without some help from across the bay where the annual St. Patrick's Day celebrations continue.

MacDinton's in St. Pete is preparing for its three-day block party with traditional Irish fare, drink specials, live music and bagpipers. It include a pub crawl on Saturday complete with a green balloon drop at midnight.

The celebration starts at 5 p.m. Friday and continues until 2 a.m. Monday at 242 1st Ave. N.

Click here for information.

St. Pat's Weekend At Molly Malones

In its usual Irish tradition, Molly Malones Irish Pub at 4106 Little Road in New Port Richey will celebrate all weekend with five bands, bagpipers and Irish fare and drinks under a huge covered tent.

The party kicks off Friday, March 15 from 8 p.m. to midnight with the music of Cage O'Hanlon and continues Saturday with the music of Nathan Allen from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. performing inside and DJ Jay Vee from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. spinning tunes outside and overseeing a green balloon drop at midnight.

In between, there will be pool, beer pong and corn hole tournaments under the tent.

The celebration on Sunday will begin with kegs and eggs at 7 a.m. The weekend menu includes corned beef and cabbage, corned beef on rye, bangers and mash and shepherd's pie along with Guinness, Bailey's Irish Cream and Crown Royal cake pops and cupcakes a

Performing inside at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday will be Josh Fielding. Born Again Heathens will play outside at noon, DeShun inside at 4 p.m., Devious 4 outside at 6 p.m. and DJ Manic Moss outside at 10 p.m.

Click here for information.

Erin Go Bragh With 3 Daughters Brewing

3 Daughters Brewing at 222 22nd St. S., St. Petersburg, is celebrating St. Patrick's Day with green beer, live music by Clover's Revenge and corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, two drinks and a custom souvenir English pint glass for $30. Be sure to dress up for a chance to win prizes.

The party takes place Sunday, March 17 from 1 to 6 p.m. Click here for tickets.

It's a lucky guess there are more St. Patrick's Day celebrations planned. Tell everyone about your event in our easy-to-use Neighbor Posts located at the top of your Patch homepage.

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