Go green in Midtown Houston during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

Dust off those green duds! There’s plenty of exciting activities in store to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Midtown Houston. Think shamrocks, leprechauns, and of course, lots of green beer.

The St. Patrick’s cultural and religious holiday started in 1631 when the Catholic Church established a Feast Day honoring St. Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland who died around the fifth century.

St. Patrick’s revelers thought wearing green made one invisible to leprechauns – fairy creatures who would pinch anyone they could see. People began pinching those who didn’t wear green as a reminder that they were potential targets for leprechauns.

Shamrocks are worn by celebrants during the holiday. The reason: St. Patrick used the clover plants to visually illustrate the concept of the Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) to convert the pagan Irish Christianity.

* * *

One of the biggest fêtes in Midtown Houston is the 7th Annual Biggest St. Patrick’s Day Festival on March 17th – 21st at 3rd Floor, 2393 Smith. The party is hosted by 3rd Floor, Irish Cowboy and Pub Fiction. Revelers will enjoy more than 45,000 square feet of party space, DJs, live music, drinks specials, and crawfish.

The festival began in 2010 and was an instant hit, drawing 20,000 attendees over a three-day period, said Daut Elshina, marketing and product director of the Salt ‘N Pepper Group, which owns and operates the three venues.

“With the recent Pub Fiction expansion and remodeling, as well as Irish Cowboy massive expansion, this year we are anticipating close to 46,000 attendees from Friday until Sunday,” Elshina said.

“We have the capability of combining the three bars where one admission gets the attendees all-day-long live music and entertainment and free flow between all three bars without leaving the premises,” he said.

There will also be temporary satellite bars placed on the patio to alleviate the volume and waiting time, Elshina said.

* * *

Little Woodrow’s also joins the St. Patrick’s Day revelry with a celebration at 2306 Brazos St. on March 17th. “Midtown’s original bar is ready to help people have a great time whether they are celebrating Ireland’s most famous patron saint, are college basketball fans, or just want a crazy good party in Houston,” said Stephen Byrd, general manager of Little Woodrow’s.

The club will show March Madness games on multiple HD big-screen TVs, and there will be plenty of drink specials on the mammoth patio – along with green beer, Irish car bombs, Irish whiskey specials, a crawfish boil, and more.

* * *

For more big fun, “Walk the Green Mile” at the Houston Saint Paddy’s PubCrawl on March 11th and 17th. Registration ($10 per person) takes place at Midtown Drinkery Bar & Grill at 2400 Bagby St., and the pub crawl winds its way to participating Midtown bars, including Howl at the Moon, The Dogwood, Sage County Bar & Grill, Little Woodrow’s, and others.

“Pop on your shamrock-shaped glasses and the best green shirt you can find and make your way down to Midtown Houston for the St Paddy’s crawl of a lifetime,” the website states.

* * *

Over at Under the Radar Brewery, 1506 Truxillo St., business co-founder Herb Garcia is putting together all the ingredients for a green day of merriment.

“We’ll have Irish dry stout and Irish red ale soaked in whiskey wood chips,” he said. “Come out and check out the only brewery in Midtown Houston. We have a fun, friendly, super chilled beer garden atmosphere. It’s the perfect venue to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.”