THIS WEEKEND IN CHICAGO – GETTING OUR GREEN ON IN CHICAGO!
THIS WEEKEND IN CHICAGO – GETTING OUR GREEN ON IN CHICAGO!
As tradition has it Chicago begins their green festivities in honor of St. Patrick’s Day with Dyeing the Chicago River (green of course) on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. And again the best views are from the East side of the Michigan Avenue bridge the West side of the Columbus Drive bridge and upper or lower Wacker Drive between Michigan and Columbus!
After that it’s on to the 58th annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade which kicks-off at Noon from Columbus Drive and Balbo Avenue in the South Loop proceeding north on Columbus Drive with a viewing stand located in front of Buckingham Fountain. As usual the parade features floats Irish dancing and music!
Then of course Chicago’s green festivities continue with its various St. Patrick’s Day related pub crawls such as –
St. Patty’s Crawl – Known as the granddaddy of the pub crawls this event starts at the newly renovated The Castle (formerly Excalibur) (632 N. Dearborn Street) on the Near North Side on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Bus transportation to the 2nd bar on the crawl Headquarters Beercade in the Lakeview neighborhood (950 W. Wolfram Street – 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.) gets you started then participants can travel on to the remaining bars (Roadhouse 66 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. and McGuigan’s Irish Pub 6:45 p.m.-8:45 p.m.) throughout the afternoon and night! New this year is a photo booth at The Castle where guests can take photos from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. along with DJ music from Brad Lee and the NCAA Conference Tournament Games being televised throughout The Castle!!
St. Paddy’s PubCrawl – Now in its 16th year come celebrate the “Luck of the Irish” on Saturday (11:00 a.m.) to Sunday (2:00 a.m.) at Dugout Wrigley (950 W. Addison Street) in the Lakeview neighborhood. Get your green outfit on and crawl your way to 6 to 10 bars as this crawl tries to break into the record books yet again but this time as the “official” St. Paddy’s PubCrawl!! Better watch out Castle!!!
Chi-Precahaun/Chi-rish Caravan Crawl – Lion’s Head (2251 N. Lincoln Avenue) in the Lincoln Park neighborhood is the place to head to on Saturday (8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.) to register for and participate in this crawl that provides bus transportation between 10 bars and offers drink specials along with a St. Patty’s Mug! Participating bars include Beaumont Bar Bar Forza Dillinger’s Fedora Lounge Gamekeepers Maxbar Old Town Social O’Malley’s West and Sully’s House. Best of all proceeds benefit the American Lung Association!!
Not to be forgotten or out done Chicago’s Northwest Side also has a great line-up for its green festivities starting with –
St. Patrick’s Day Festival – This family-oriented day-long annual event includes traditional and contemporary Irish music dance food an Art and Craft Fair selling Irish gifts and children’s activities this Saturday (1:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.) at the Irish American Heritage Center (4626 N. Knox Avenue) in the Mayfair neighborhood. Live entertainment being provided by performers such as Mulligan Stew Sullivan Brothers the Mulhern School of Irish Dance and more!
St. Patrick’s Day Celebration – It’s a continuation of holiday fun on Sunday (12:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.) of the previous day’s festival at the Irish American Heritage Center!
Chicago Irish Fest – This two-day celebration (Saturday/Sunday) at Mo Dailey’s Pub & Grille (6070 N. Northwest Highway) in the Norwood Park neighborhood features live music from Irish bands bagpipers DJs performances by Irish dancers and giveaways! There’s also a pre-parade tailgate party on Sunday from 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.!
And finally the Northwest Side Irish Parade takes place on Sunday at Noon beginning at Onahan School (6633 W. Raven Street) in the Norwood Park neighborhood continuing south on Neola Avenue to Northwest Highway then north to Harlem Avenue.
Will You Be Going Green With Us? Or Are You Green Already?!?!
SUE MOSS & DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO
