St. Patrick's Day is on Monday, March 17, but celebrations begin this weekend. Here are some places to spend the day among green-wearing, drink-holding people in Hartford.
The 43th Annual Greater Hartford St. Patrick's Day Parade is happening on Saturday, March 15 at 11:00 a.m., rain or shine. The parade begins at Capitol Avenue by the State Capitol, turns left onto Main Street, then left on Asylum, then left on Ford Street, before ending up by the Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park.
After the parade, at 1:00 p.m., Hartford Prints on Pratt Street will host Folk & Irish, featuring performances by Lindsey Fyfe and other local musicians and Connecticut's first barrel-aged whiskey from Onyx Spirits Company.
On Sunday, March 16 at 12:30 p.m., costumed runners will take to the downtown streets for the Max's O'Hartford 5K and Wee Mile. There will also be "Irish bagpipers, Celtic fiddlers, Max Restaurant Group refreshments and Thomas Hooker's beer."
And St. Patrick's Day isn't the only alcohol-fueled holiday of the weekend - Purim begins at sundown Saturday. There are no scheduled events in Hartford, though surrounding towns have plenty, on both Saturday and Sunday, most of them family-oriented.
The last time the two holidays fell so close together was in 2003, when Purim began on the evening of March 17th. The next such occurrence will be in 2022, with Purim beginning on the evening of the 16th.