“St. Patrick’s Day is about more than just drinking green beer,” says Rachel Gilkey of the Irish Arts Center (553 W. 51st St.; 212-757-3318), which is offering free cultural classes and activities tomorrow (12 to 5 p.m.).
You can also join Big Onion Walking Tours for its “Irish New York” tour, meeting in front of St. Paul’s Chapel on Broadway between Vesey and Fulton streets today (1 p.m.) and March 19 (11 a.m.). Highlights include tales of the Five Points slums, made famous by Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York,” and the meeting grounds of Tammany Hall, the original New York Irish political party.
The arty set will go green with envy at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (40 Lincoln Center Plaza; 917-275-6975). Opening Monday, “Ireland America: The Ties That Bind” showcases Irish performance history dating back to 1800. One highlight is a room devoted to James Joyce; also, don’t miss Zero Mostel’s annotated off-Broadway script for “Ulysses in Nighttown” and scores by John Cage.
St. Patty’s is about having fun, so remember: Craic isn’t whack! “Craic means a good time!” says Terence Mulligan, the founder of the Craic Fest. The Irish music and film festival ends tonight, but today is full of activities. At 11 a.m., bring the kids and your dancing shoes to Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick St.; 212-941-2001) for step dancing and live music. Animated shorts follow the dance program.
The party ends in style at the Mercury Lounge (217 E. Houston St.; 212-260-4700) with what Mulligan calls the “best indie [and] acoustic rock out of Ireland.” Headlining tonight’s show at 8 is Foy Vance, a singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland.
Elsewhere, Galway rockers the Saw Doctors perform tonight at 8 at Irving Plaza (17 Irving Place; 212-777-6800). while Joe Hurley and his crew of guest stars take the stage at 6 at the Highline Ballroom (431 W. 16th St.; 212-414-5994) for the 12th annual Irish Rock Revue.
For most, of course, St. Patrick’s Day is still about the parades, with several scheduled for this weekend and next.
“It’s a really social day,” explains John Martin of the White Plains St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Today at noon, a couple thousand people will head out to Mamaroneck Avenue to watch 25 bands and marching groups.
“After the parade is over, the community spills out to surrounding restaurants and pubs for live entertainment, like step dancing and bagpipers,” says Martin.
If you don’t get to White Plains or Manhattan’s Thursday parade, you can still catch the Montauk St. Patrick’s Day Parade, March 20 at 12:30 p.m.
“The Manhattan parade is all fraternity groups marching. We’re all about floats and bands,” says Patrick Moloney of the Montauk Friends of Erin, which organizes the annual event.
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