5 Ways To Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day In St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday this year. Entertainment districts in St. Petersburg will be swimming in Kelly green, and perhaps flashing red and blue lights if people don’t behave themselves.

And devout Catholics may have to consult their parish priest before they dig into a plate of corned beef and cabbage.

Some of the places in the St. Petersburg area to celebrate the March 17 holiday are:

• Paddy Fest St. Pete, Williams Park, Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Hosted by the city of St. Petersburg, this event includes entertainment throughout the day, Irish cuisine, food trucks, Celtic games, the Guinness Perfect Pour Tent, the Redbreast Irish whiskey experience and more.
• O’Maddy’s Bar & Grille, 5405 Shore Blvd. S., Gulfport, Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. This waterfront bar will feature live music all day, green beer, and corned beef and cabbage.
• Mary Margaret’s Olde Irish Tavern, 29 3rd Street N., St. Petersburg, Friday, noon to midnight. This Irish pub and restaurant will host live Irish music all day.
• If I Brewed the World, 2200 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg, Friday, 8 p.m. The brewery hosts St. Patrick’s Day Rock and Roll Invasion Friday evening. All weekend enjoy drink specials if you’re wearing green, green beer, food and a limerick contest.
• Downtown St. Petersburg Shamrock Stroll, Saturday, 1 to 8 p.m. This pub crawl tours various downtown bars and offers drink specials, live music and more.

With all the festivities planned, the St. Petersburg Police Department warned people to plan ahead if they’re drinking.

“Don’t rely on the luck of the Irish to get home safely,” the department wrote in a Facebook post. “Make a plan now to designate a driver or other transportation. Officers will be out and about keeping everyone safe.”

Devout Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, a sacrifice that recognizes Jesus’ death on the cross on a Friday. Catholics in several suburban Chicago towns can eat the traditional fare without guilt, but the Diocese of Chicago is holding firm.

Whether revelers in cities like heavily Catholic Chicago, one of the most St. Patrick-y cities in the country, go all in with the holiday staple corned beef and cabbage could come down to whether they get special dispensation from the diocese.

The Diocese of St. Petersburg’s Bishop Gregory Parkes is giving Catholics a pass for St. Patrick’s Day by allowing them to eat meat Friday.

“The faithful are encouraged to choose another day in the same week or as soon as possible to abstain from meat to assist in their spiritual Lenten journey,” according to the diocese’s website.

There are several Lenten fish fries going on for Catholics who want to play it by the rules, including the following:

• Metro Diner, 5250 4th Street N., St. Petersburg, all day Fridays.
• St. Raphael Catholic Church, 3187 4th Street N., St. Petersburg. Fridays during Lent, 5:30 to 7 p.m.