St. Patrick's Day in Cleveland Celebrated in a BIG Way!

Having lived in Cleveland all my life, and having had the opportunity to plan St. Patrick's Day activities for several beer companies over the years, I got a bit spoiled about how Cleveland celebrates St. Patrick's Day in such a big way. I was surprised to learn that St. Patrick's Day isn't as eagerly anticipated in other cities as it is in Cleveland, and frankly it just serves to remind me about yet again about one of my favorite things about living in Cleveland, the opportunity to experience the many cultures and traditions that Cleveland's diverse population offers.

Now, as I already said, I planned activities for beer companies in a former life as a Special Event Planner for a local wholesaler, so I also got to see up front and personal, the not so great side of St. Patrick's Day, the notion that it is ok to begin irresponsibly consuming way too much alcohol, way too fast , often times as early as 5am in morning with the morning radio events going on all over town encouraging this type of behavior with on air competitive drinking games for instance. This not so great side to the day was a tremendous challenge for me as I was also the wholesaler's alcohol awareness/ community responsibility liaison, so my day was usually spent "putting out fires" while others in management had the luxury of "entertaining" clients for the day.

This being said, these circumstances were most definitely the exception to the rule of the day, which of course is for everyone "to be Irish for the day", and I can help you avoid these roadblocks and direct you to not only safe locations to enjoy the music, food and spirit of the day, but also the areas around that town that would be considered "family friendly" as well.