St. Patrick’s Day brings a parade, music and green beer

Contrary to Kermit the Frog’s lament, it is actually easy being green.

Or at least it will be around the Bradenton area on Friday. That’s St. Patrick’s Day, when we all celebrate our Irish heritage, even if we’re not actually Irish. The day (or at least the night) may be a little more boisterous this year because it happens to fall on a Friday.

But there’s plenty of family-friendly fun stuff, too. And it’s not all confined to Friday.

The biggest Irish-themed celebration of the day, this year and every year, is at Clancy’s Irish Sports Pub. If you can leave the kids at home on Friday, you might want to spend the day there. Clancy’s celebrates Irishness all year long, but it hypes up the Irish for St. Patrick’s Day. Clancy’s St. Patrick’s Day Bash gets going at noon Friday and keeps going into the wee hours of Saturday, with live entertainment from start to finish. The lineup includes BC & the Gang (noon), O’Reilly’s Irish Dancers (3 p.m.), authentic Irish music by Paul & Jerry (3:30 p.m.), bag pipers (5 p.m.), the Billy Rice Band (7 p.m.) and Whiskey Blind (10 p.m.).

Clancy’s is at 6218 Cortez Road W., Bradenton. Call 941-794-2489 or go to clancysirishsportspub.com.

For a more sedate Irish pub experience, you can check out O’Bricks Irish Pub in downtown Bradenton. O’Bricks is planning on getting rowdy on Friday, but it will offer some Irish food and beverage specials, including corned beef chowder, hot corned beef on rye, corned beef reubens, corned beef and cabbage dinner with carrots and potatoes and green beer.

Outside O’Bricks, an Old Main Street, the St. Patrick’s Day edition of Main Street live is set for 5-9 p.m., with live music and vendors. It’s free as always. The music should be fun — it’s ska from Pressure Dem — but it’s definitely not Irish.

Just down the street from O’Bricks, at 302 Old Main St., McCabe’s Irish Pub will open a couple of hours early, at 10 a.m. McCabe’s will have live music from an Irish band called Clover’s Revenge, Irish dancing, bagpipes and Irish beer. The pub is open until 2 a.m. and there’s no cover charge. The McCabe’s Irish Pub Facebook page has information.

Nearby, Pier 22, 1200 First Ave W, Bradenton, also features specials on Irish food and libations — Guinness stout, Irish coffee and the like — all day long. Call 941-748-8087 or go to pier22dining.com.

The Freckled Fin in Bradenton Beach isn’t an Irish establishment, but it has maybe the most extensive St. Patrick’s Day lineup around. It all gets going with a St. Paddy’s Day Pre-Party 6-10 p.m. Thursday, featuring music from Mike Tozier and Friends. On Friday, there’s a full day of music inside and outside starting at 10 a.m. Acts include Joshua Gilton, Dan Signor Project, the Black Velvet Band, Trevor Bystrom and Firewater and Ocean Drive. If you’re not interested in music, you can pop in from 2 to 4 p.m. and catch the “St. Paddy’s Day Fun” with Bobby the Balloon Man.

The Freckled Fin is at 101 Bridge St. in Bradenton Beach. Call 941-251-3930 or go to freckledfin.com.

On Sunday, head out to on Anna Maria Island for a family friendly event. The Beach Bistro’s 18th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade is set for 4 p.m. Sunday in Holmes Beach.

Parade organizers say the Beach Bistro Parade is the largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade south and east of Savannah, Ga. It’s also the only St. Patrick’s Parade south and east of Savannah, as far as organizers know, so being the largest isn’t that much of distinction.

The parade starts near the corner of Marina Drive and Gulf Drive and will continue north along Marina Drive and then Palm Drive and will wind up at 79th Street in Holmes Beach.

Among the parade’s highlights are high school bands, pipe bands, floats and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ parrot mascot. Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson and World War II Veteran Bob Schweiger lead the parade. Schweiger was in the second wave at Omaha Beach during the D-Day Invasion of Normandy.

You can find our more by calling the Beach Bistro at 941-778-6444.

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 4:29 PM with the headline "St. Patrick’s Day brings a parade, music and green beer."