25 ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Charlotte
Whether you want to spend the day drinking green beer specials, learning about Irish culture or enjoying the beautiful spring weather, this roundup of Irish-inspired festivals, food and beer specials and outdoor activities across Charlotte will help you find the perfect place to celebrate St. Patty’s Day your way.
Cornelius/Huntersville/North Charlotte
(1) 8th Annual Celtic Festival
5225 Sample Road, Huntersville
March 14-15, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
$9 ages 13 and over, $8 for ages 6-12 and 62 and over. Free for ages 5 and under.
Explore the world of ancient Celtic culture with live performances from musicians, dancers, Celtic warriors and bagpipers. Walk through a historic encampment and watch artisans, blacksmiths, leathersmiths and weavers and learn about their crafts. This event will also have food from food trucks and craft beer available for purchase.
(2) Bar Louie
8760 J M Keynes Drive
March 14 and March 17, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
Free admission
Wear green and stop by Bar Louie for $4 green beers, $5 Jameson Shots and music all day.
(3) Flying Saucer
9605 N. Tryon St.
March 17, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
Free admission
The Flying Saucer is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with drink specials such as $4 Irish pints and $5 Jameson Irish Whiskey, and a specialty food menu featuring Banger’s & Mash, Steak & Guinness Pie, Shepherd’s Pie and more.
(4) Galway Hooker Irish Pub Annual Block Party
17044 Kenton Drive, Cornelius
March 14, 11 a.m.
Free admission
The Galway Hooker is hosting a block party with live Irish dancers, a DJ spinning a blend of modern hits and Irish favorites, bagpipes, a vendor village, a game zone and appearances from leprechauns throughout the day.
(5) Wild Wing Cafe
9539 Pinnacle Drive
March 17, 11 a.m.
Free admission
Join Wild Wing Cafe in its annual St. Patrick’s Day festivities featuring live music, beer specials, and corned beef and cabbage.
Elizabeth/Myers Park
(6) Caswell Station
366 N. Caswell St.
March 14-17
Free admission, $20 for cornhole tournament
Caswell Station is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day from Saturday to Tuesday with beer specials, giveaways and beads, lawn games, live music and a cornhole tournament at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
(7) Sir Edmund Halley’s
4151 Park Road
March 17, 11 a.m.- 2 a.m.
Free admission
Sir Ed’s will be featuring a special Irish menu, a bounce house for kids, Irish dancer performances, bagpipers, fun giveaways and, of course, lots of Guinness.
(8) St. Patrick’s Day Mixology with Bob Peters
1609 Elizabeth Ave.
March 14, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Free admission
Bob Peters will teach you how to make themed Irish whiskey cocktails using Tullamore Dew classic, XO Caribbean Rum Cask Irish Whiskey and Five Farms Irish Cream.
NoDa/Plaza Midwood
(9) Charlotte Runners 13th Annual Green Beer Mile
3710 N. Davidson St.
March 17. 6:30 p.m.
Free admission
Run for your beer at the 13th Annual Green Beer Mile. Run a mile with a stop each quarter mile to chug a beer or beverage of choice. Wear green running clothes and bring four beers or nonalcoholic beverages to drink along the run. Ages 21 and up.
(10) El Thrifty Social Charlotte
1115 N. Brevard St.
March 17, 4-11 p.m.
Free admission
Try El Thrifty Social’s Irish twists on Mexican food with specials such as Beef & Cabbage Tacos and Fish & Chips Tacos. Also, enjoy $5 green cans of Bud Light and a $5 nacho special.
(11) Jack Beagles
3213 N. Davidson St.
March 14, 8 p.m.-2 a.m.,
$5 cover
Jack Beagles is hosting a St. Patrick’s Day Throwdown with $2.50 green Coronas, $7 Irish cheesesteaks and live music by Southside Watt.
(12) Sanctuary Pub
507 E. 36th St.
March 17, 5 p.m.-2 a.m.
Free admission
Sanctuary Pub will be running “Irish Fool” specials, including $5 Tullamore Dew, $5 Car Bombs, $5 Baby Guinness and $2.50 Guinness drafts from March 17 to April 1.
South Charlotte/Fort Mill/Rock Hill
(13) Fort Mill Main Street Shamrock Jam
Main Street, Fort Mill
March 14, 3-9 p.m.
Free admission
Head to downtown Fort Mill for games, music, food, green beer, kids activities and shopping from local vendors. The first 500 guests will get color-changing souvenir cups. Wear a costume for a chance to win a prize.
(14) Old Town Rock Hill St. Patrick’s Day on Main St.
157 Main St., Rock Hill
March 14, 2-10 p.m.
Free admission, $20 for kids inflatable play zone
The St. Patrick’s Day Party in Old Town Rock Hill will feature live entertainment, a giant kids inflatable play zone, food truck rodeo and beer. Local vendors and businesses also will have a sidewalk sale to celebrate Shop Small Saturday. Free parking is available on White Street, one block from the festival.
(15) Shamrock’n the Village
14825 Ballantyne Village Way
March 14, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
Free admission
This block party will feature a courtyard takeover by Ballantyne Village businesses with food, drink, a DJ, bagpipers and live music from 5-11 p.m.
South End/Uptown
(16) Brewers at 4001 Yancey
4001 Yancey Road
March 17, 4-10 p.m.
Free admission
Brewers at 4001 Yancey is hosting a St. Patty’s Day “Steal the Pint Night.” Enjoy a beer, then keep the commemorative St. Patrick’s Day themed pint glass when you leave. There also will be a themed menu with specials including Master Blend stout Irish beef stew, shepherd’s pie with Meltdown IPA gravy and Helles lager braised corned beef.
(17) Lenny Boy Brewing
3000 S. Tryon St.
March 17, 4-9 p.m.
Free admission
Lenny Boy Brewing is donating $1 of every pint of beer or kombucha purchased on St. Patrick’s Day to Operation Decisive Victory, a nonprofit dedicated to providing resources to veterans.
(18) South End Craft Crawl
2900 Griffith St.
March 14, 1-7 p.m.
Free admission
Make your green beer a craft beer at the South End Craft Crawl. Hop on a free historic trolley that will take you to breweries, cideries and bottle shops around South End.
(19) Red Clay CiderWorks
245 Clanton Road
March 14, Noon-11 p.m.
Free admission
Red Clay CiderWorks is releasing the Emerald Curtain, a naturally green cider made of lime, kiwi and cucumber, and FūD on the MūV at Red Clay will be serving special green wafflewiches and a corned beef specials.
(20) Rich and Bennett’s 20th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Bar Crawl
300 N. Brevard St.
March 14, noon
$25 in advance, $30 day of event
Be a part of the world’s largest bar crawl this St. Patrick’s Day. The crawl includes drink and restaurant specials from over 35 uptown Charlotte venues, a t-shirt, swag and live music. This year, Wicked Weed created a special beer just for this bar crawl, Crawlers Ale, that will be available at select bars in the crawl.
(21) Shamrockin’ South End Bar Crawl
200 E. Bland St.
March 14, 1 p.m.–2 a.m.
Free admission
Walk along the rail trail for a bar crawl and get specials at 20 South End bars and restaurants including Gin Mill, Hot Taco, Lost and Found, Bridgid’s Irish Pub and many more. Preregister to get a branded bandana, a St. Patrick’s Day kit with a map of locations and a list of food and drink specials for each venue.
(22) St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival
North Tryon and 9th streets
March 14, 11 a.m.
Free admission
Watch a parade of floats, dancers, dogs and more move through uptown Charlotte at 11 a.m. sharp. Then stick around for the Charlotte Goes Green Celebration for Irish food, live performances until 6 p.m., vendors and more.
(23) St. Paddy’s Cake Dessert Festival
1327 S. Mint St.
March 22, noon-5 p.m.
Free admission
This family-friendly festival will feature lots of dessert vendors with gluten-free options and pet treats, a vintage video game pop-up, Irish inspired entertainment and a silent auction.
(24) Suffolk Punch
2911 Griffith St.
March 14-15, 10 a.m.-midnight
Free admission
Enjoy live music, bagpipe players, $3 Suffolk Punch Brewing Irish Stout on Nitro, a special Irish food menu and a vendor market. Wear your best Irish costume for a chance to win a prize.
U.S. National Whitewater Center
(25) Green River Revival and Color Me Green 5K
5000 Whitewater Center Pkwy.
9 a.m.-7 p.m.
$42 for noncompetitive 5K, $45 for competitive 5K, free admission to Green River Revival
Start the morning with a 5K around the White Water Center, then enjoy an Irish breakfast served until noon, free yoga classes, live music starting at 1 p.m., and white water rafting on a green course.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 5:40 AM.