Ways To Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2023 In Silver Spring

SILVER SPRING, MD — St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday this year. Restaurants and bars around Silver Spring 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.

The Washington Regional Alcohol Program's 2023 St. Patrick’s SoberRide program is planned between 4 p.m. Friday, March 17 and 4 a.m. on Saturday, March 18. Because the holiday is considered a high-risk time for intoxicated driving, the program will offer a Lyft ride up to $15.

Related: Free Sober Rides Offered For St. Patrick's Day 2023 In DC Region

Some of the places in Silver Spring to celebrate the March 17 holiday are:

St. Patrick's Day Cover: McGinty's Public House, which is located at 911 Ellsworth Drive in Silver Spring, is celebrating the holiday with live music and green beer. Ardmore plays from 5-9 p.m., followed by Thieve from 9-11 p.m. Prepaid cover guarantees entry and is cheaper than on the day.

• St. Patrick's Day Tennis Social - All Ages: Celebrate the holiday by playing tennis from 7 p.m., at The Aspen Hill Club, which is located at 14501 Homecrest Road in Silver Spring.
• Free Beginner's Salsa & Swing St. Patrick's Day Open House: Enjoy a free festive salsa and swing group class and party from 7-8:30 p.m., at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Silver Spring located at 10801 Lockwood Drive #150.
• St. Patrick's Day Specials & Fundraiser: Denizens Brewing Company, located at 1115 East-West Highway in Silver Spring, is offering drink and food specials and hosting a fundraiser for the Montgomery County Humane Society.
• St. Patrick's Day: Starting at 12 p.m., on Friday, Silver Branch Brewing Company located at 8401 Colesville Road, Suite 150, in Silver Spring is offering a selection of Irish food and drinks.
• Dovetail Joints at Silver Strings: To celebrate the holiday, Silver Strings, which is located at 8630 Colesville Road in Silver Spring, will feature music from Irish bands starting at 4 p.m.
• St. Patrick's Day Party-A feast day in Lent: St. Mary's Catholic Church, which is ocated at 520 Veirs Mill Road in Rockville, is hosting a St. Patrick's Day Party featuring Irish beer and fare from 6-8:30 p.m. Enjoy live music featuring Father James and friends.

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.

Catholic revelers from Silver Spring will be happy to learn that Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, has granted Catholics in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, which includes Montgomery County, dispensation from the abstinence from meat on March 17 this year. This extends to any Catholics who are in the diocese during St. Patrick's Day.

"It is not required that anyone make use of this dispensation. Those who do wish to make use of it are encouraged to abstain from meat on some other day as part of their penitential practices during Lent," according to Gregory's decree.