Palatine St. Patrick's Day Celebration Has Something For Everybody

Palatine’s “Paint the Town Green” celebration on Saturday, March 17 is more than just a parade it’s a festival for everything Irish with food, drink, entertainment and shopping all throughout the town.

“We are going to have a family-friendly day of celebration for St. Patrick’s Day,” stated event coordinator, Liz Noe of ElizEvents in a press release. “Irish food, drink and entertainment will be available at a number of local establishments.  They’ll be all kinds shopping opportunities and, during the parade, we’ll be collecting items to support the homeless and near-homeless serviced by Journeys from PADS to HOPE.”

The highlight of the “Paint the Town Green” activities is the St. Patrick’s Day parade to be held at 11 a.m. in downtown Palatine. The parade steps off at Wood and Oak streets, continues west to Brockway and south to Wilson. “There are almost 50 entries and over 600 participants registered in the parade,” Noe stated. “We are excited to highlight bag pipers, a number of dance troupes and local businesses in the parade.”

During the day, Durty Nellie’s will open for breakfast at 9 a.m. and be serving Irish food and drink specials as well as providing music from the bagpipers of the Midlothian Scottish Pipe Band from 12:30 p.m. to 2  p.m. The Celtic/World duo Shishonnah will perform from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. Shishonnah will also perform at St. Paul United Church at 7 p.m. that evening. After 3 p.m. a $10 cover charge will apply at Durty Nellie’s, and each guest will receive $10 off a future dining purchase.

Starting at 3 p.m. and playing to 4 p.m. Screw City Saints will perform followed by The Buddies from 4:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. The Fisticuffs take the stage from 6:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Red Rebel Country will play from 8 p.m. until 10 p.m.  The final performance of the evening starting at 10:30 PM will be Rod Tuffcurls & The Bench Press playing songs anywhere from the 80s, to Disney/Movie themes, to fun sing a longs.

Emmett’s Ale House will be serving Kegs N Eggs from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. as well as traditional Irish foods throughout the day.  Entertainment will kick off at 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. with Trey Higgins performing with his bagpipes and wrap up at 9 p.m. with Irish folk band Kingsfold Trio.  After the parade, Ryan Clooney, Emmett’s Brewmaster, will conduct a firkin tapping ceremony of Emmett’s Rafferty Red beer where a spigot is ceremoniously driven into a small wooden keg with a wooden mallet.  The Palatine Township Republican Organization will also be hosting a “meet and greet” in the Palatine Dining Room at Emmett’s following the parade.

For St. Patrick’s Day, Bauer’s Brauhaus will be turning from German to Irish.  According to Alice Bauer, they will be serving green beer and passing out green beads.  World-Wide Liquors (Dobby’s) will be holding a liquor, wine and beer tasting from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Dobby’s will be tasting wines, Irish beer and John L. Sullivan Irish Whiskey.

For shopping and entertainment, “Paint the Town Green’s” Irish Market will feature 19 vendors selling foods, treats, jewelry, purses, flowers and more from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. in the parking lot at Durty Nellie’s. In addition to Irish favorites, there will also be varying types of music throughout the day with Merv Collins and his instrumental guitar music at 9 a.m. and Guyz with Bad Eyez performing a wide variety of music on their guitars for two hours starting at 10 a.m. To complete the music at the Market from Noon until 1 p.m. will be the Irish music from the duo of Dr. Gerry Aylward and Dave Kunzweiler.

All throughout the day, leprechaun Lucky McClover and Princess Katie M'Lady will tour downtown businesses.  A number of businesses will be celebrating Paint the Town Green with special deals if a shopper mentions “St. Pats Palatine.”  Arbonne will be offering 20 percent off any Arbonne Essentials items, Arete’ Salon & Spa is offering 20 percent off appointments as well as retail items and Chandelier Boutique has 10 to 15 percent off everything in the store. Cookie Cards and Shay’s Closet has 20 percent off selected items and Patti’s Pretties is offering 20 percent off on any green item.  Harrington Manor has 17 percent off regularly priced items and Murph Accounting & Tax Services will be discounting tax services for appointments booked during the day.

Paint the Town Green will be made possible through the time and financial support of a number of local companies.  The top sponsors are Durty Nellie's, Journal & Topics Newspaper, ElizEvents, Budweiser, Dr. Gerry Aylward & Associates and Northrop Grumman.  For more information on Paint the Town Green and the day’s events, please visit www.stpatspalatine.com or email info@stpatspalatine.com.