Celebrate St Patrick’s Day in Seattle!

Immigration brought millions of Irish on the East Coast, but West Coast was not forgotten (Army recruitment, Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890’s). Some cities took their name from immigrants, such as Redmond (named by Irish immigrant Luke McRedmond). Thomas Burke was the son of an Irish immigrants (Burke-Gilman trail). This population, originally from Ireland, have decided to make Seattle their home and no one should be surprised by the large number of Irish pubs in Seattle. Also, St Patrick’s Day is decently celebrated here. Originally, blue was the color associated to St Patrick, but it had been replaced by the green color with the green shamrock, symbol used during the Irish rebellion in 1798. The Leprechaun is another symbol of St Patrick’s Day.

St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, who christianized Ireland in the 5th century. He died on March 17th 461 and this date became Ireland’s national holiday, celebrated in Ireland but also in some European countries, in the USA, in Canada and Argentina. In Chicago, The Chicago river becomes green on St Patrick’s day.

Here are some of the festivities and place to celebrate St Patrick’s Day in Seattle:

St. Patrick’s Parade

Enjoy St Patrick’s Parade (47^th edition) where you will see bagpipers, Irish dancers, bands, drill teams, etc.

Parade route: from 4th Avenue at James Street to Westlake Park (on 4th Avenue at Pine). It starts at 12:30 p.m.

Participants are invited to travel for free on the Monorail to the Seattle Center for closing ceremonies at the Irish Festival in the Armory at 2:30 pm. This family friendly event is free and open to the public.

St. Patrick’s Day Dash

Go participate to the 4 miles run. Run or walk as you prefer. The race is full of Leprechauns and green color costumes, so get some inspiration for the occasion! The run begins and ends at Seattle Center.

There is also another run in Tacoma, St Paddy’s Day Run Tacoma 5k,10k, Half-Marathon and Kids 1k is a fun event for the whole family.

Irish Festival

Seattle Center presents Irish Festival, on March 17 and 18, a fun and family-friendly event for St. Patrick’s Day.
Live performances, visual arts, hands-on activities, foods, games, a lively marketplace, genealogy workshops and more.

Seattle Irish Pubs

Let’s also celebrate St Patrick’s Day in one of the many pubs in Seattle and around. We have selected a few.

Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub

We love this small Irish pub located in the old streets of Post Alley, near Pike Place. A great place to celebrate St Patrick’s Day: Live music from March 13th to March 17th.