Now that Valentine’s Day has passed and New Year’s Eve feels like a distant memory, it’s time to start planning for St. Patrick’s Day. Luckily, there are a wide variety of activities taking place in the Charlotte area to make your St. Patrick’s Day one to remember. Whether you’re looking for family fun or something a little more adult, Charlotte has events for all ages.
The main event in Charlotte is the 17th Annual Charlotte St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Charlotte Goes Green Festival. Both events will take place on Saturday, March 16th in Uptown Charlotte. The Festival, located at S. Tryon St. between 1st and 3rd Sts. will take place from 10:00am-6:30pm. It will feature live music, Irish dancers, and Celtic/Irish vendors from across America. The entire festival is free and is a great place to bring your kids. At 11:00am, the parade begins down Tryon St. before continuing down Caldwell St. Expect over 80,000 spectators watching more than 100 different units of marchers, including Irish dancers, pipe and drum bands, floats, animals, and more. The parade is fun for the whole family and will be full of support from local community groups.
As night falls on March 16th, head over to the Historic Latta Plantation for the Celtic Music Night Fundraiser. Featuring great live music performed by Irish Temperance, the proceeds from the night benefit the Latta Plantation. The event will include food provided by Appalachian Smoke and beer from Olde Mecklenburg Brewery. Tickets are priced at $10 per person, and the event is great for both kids and adults.
For the over-21 crowd looking to get out and have a good time, there are several bar and pub crawls taking place around the Charlotte area. BarCrawls.com is organizing both a one-day bar crawl on March 16th ($5) as well as a 3-day bar crawl from March 15th-17th ($15). Ticket-holders will be given a bar-crawl map as well as a wristband and cup. Tickets can be purchased here. PubCrawls.com is offering a Luck of the Irish St. Paddy’s Pub Crawl as well, featuring some of the best bars in Charlotte. Tickets are available for either March 16th or 17th on the day of the events at Dillinger’s Taproom ($15), or 2-Day All Access Passes may be purchased here ($20). Whether you choose family fun during the day, adult revelry at night, or some combination of the two, Charlotte is the place to be this St. Patrick’s Day.
