St. Patrick's Day in Austin

Austin has a plethora of Irish-themed restaurants and pubs, and the yearly St. Patrick's Day celebrations at most of them are sure to bring a twinkle to your eye and a bounce to your step!

Fado and Mother Egan's are two popular Irish pubs that promise authentic cuisine and various other Irish-themed drinks, foods, and activities for the yearly celebration of all things green. Fado is planning an outdoor extravaganza, with live music and contests, and both clubs are on or near 6th Street in the downtown entertainment district. Both entertained large crowds last year, and promise more of the same this year.

Another popular choice for St. Paddy's are both of the Opal Divine Freehouse franchises, one of which is on 6th Street and the other at Penn Field off South Congress Avenue. Both are planning festivities, including Irish live music, for the holiday, along with a third location on the lake.

An Austin tradition for many years that also caters to those from across the pond is the Dog and Duck Pub on Guadalupe, where a game of darts can be enjoyed with a pint of ale. The Dog and Duck is located on the southern edge of the University of Texas campus, just north of downtown, and the pub specializes in pub grub with an Irish twist. The pub also boasts a patio for outdoor drinking, eating, schmoozing, talking, and laughing, and music is planned for the day as well. The Dog and Duck is a favorite meeting place for political discussions and meetings of numerous campus organizations, among others. This year marks the 19th anniversary of St. Patrick's Day festivities at the Dog and Duck, and a great musical lineup is on tap this year again.

Two more possibilities for those hoping to celebrate in an Irish atmosphere include Bennigan's, located just south of the river on Barton Springs, and which has a planned Blarney Blast to celebrate the day, and B.D. Riley's, a locally owned downtown pub on Brazos at 6th Street that advertises live music on a regular basis. B.D. Riley's is a historic structure decorated with many authentic Irish accents, and an Irish tune session is held every Sunday with no cover charge. B.D. Riley's will also host a few SXSW events around the same time as St. Paddy's Day, so expect many surprise appearances by local as well as national performers.

In addition to St. Patrick's Day celebrations, March 17th is also the feast day of St. Gertrude, the patron saint of cats, so the mix of these two holiday themes will be sure to provide lots of entertainment to participants in the many planned contests and other trivia games and activities being held at these venues, as well as most of the clubs and restaurants in the entertainment district downtown and in the warehouse district, as well as other areas of Austin.

Austin also has many stores, shops, and galleries that cater to a Celtic crowd, and many of these stores are advertising specials for the holiday period, so join the leprechauns and other Irish folk and take advantage of these sales by stocking up on Irish memorabilia and foods and host your own event, replete with green beer!!

Many such private parties round out St. Patrick's Day in the Austin area, as well as events on the lake and other parks, and 6th Street is expecting its usual big crowds of revelers for the holiday, so pick out something green to wear, and start making plans for this yearly event, because it is just around the corner, and before you know it, it will be over!

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