As March is officially upon us, it will soon be the time of year where one’s heritage, lineage, and DNA become irrelevant. A time where people pull out every item of green clothing they can muster. Green beer will pour freely from taps across the country, and corned beef and cabbage is consumed by the masses.
That’s right, folks, St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner.
This ‘green’ holiday has a long-standing, rich history of evolution throughout the years. Honestly, it’s all a bit intense. In a nutshell, St. Patrick was a patron saint of Ireland. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, he was born in Roman Britain in the late 4th century, was kidnapped at the age of 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped but returned around the year 432 to convert the Irish to Christianity.
Yikes.
At some point in time, the holiday became highly Americanized, focusing more on green attire, leprechauns and Irish food and drink. Here’s a fun fact: St. Patrick was originally associated with the color blue. In his portraits, his priestly vestments are painted the distinct color, a representation of his clergy reign. It was only after the Order of St. Patrick officially changed the color to green when people began to celebrate by wearing green clothes.
And don’t you remember being a kid and forgetting to wear green to school on St. Paddy’s Day? That was the worst! Kids were ruthless, finding every opportunity to pinch you throughout the day. Well, it seems that painful tradition comes from the history of leprechauns.
Leprechauns are often depicted as little bearded men in a coat and hat who partake in mischief. According to folklore, they spend most of their time making shoes and have a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. By wearing green on St. Paddy’s Day, people thought they were invisible to leprechauns, thus avoiding the inevitable ‘pinch’ by the fairy creatures.
In today’s culture, St. Paddy’s Day is celebrated in a wide variety of ways. Parades, feasts of Irish food, green rivers running through major cities. However, Irish blood doesn’t need to run through your veins to partake in the many festivities and traditions of St. Paddy’s Day. In fact, just being “Iowish” is close enough in my book. It’s all the same when celebrating this lucky holiday in downtown Mason City.
And on Saturday, March 14th, the bars of Main Street will be hopping.
Literally.
That’s because it’s the annual St. Paddy’s Day Bar Hop. A day to wear green and enjoy a pint of Guinness. Or two. So, round up a slew of your favorite hooligans, get yourself a responsible DD for the night, and hike up your green party pants. You don’t want to miss the biggest and best bar hop in North Iowa!
Here’s everything you need to know:
Date: Saturday, March 14th, 2020.
Time: 5:00PM-11:00PM
Participating Locations: Brix Wine & Whiskey – Wild Bills Bar & Billiards – Fat Hill Brewing – Sports Page
Ransom’s Pleazol – Lorado’s – Mason City Brewing
Grab your shamrock pass for $8 each OR buy 5 passes and get the 6th pass for FREE. You can purchase them by clicking HERE.
Passes will be available for pickup (and purchase) the day of the event at 9 N Federal, downtown Mason City from 5:00-7:00PM.
What does the pass get you? Well… you’ll be eligible for some amazing specials at participating locations, available ONLY if you have the Bar Hop Pass. Seriously, you don’t want to miss out on these incredible deals or specialty drinks. I mean, you can get a Fuzzy Leprechaun at Wild Bills for $3.00 – or a Green Menthol Shot at The Sports Page for $2.00! Fat Hill Brewery has $1 off all beer pints ONLY with your bar hop pass. You can bop on over to Ransom’s Pleazol for a $2 apple pie shot. Or maybe hop on in to Lorado’s for a $3 Shamrock Shooter. Plus, SO much more. Don’t miss out on all the fun!
A special shout out to the incredible businesses who sponsor this event. Give them a ‘like’ on social media. This event would not be possible without their amazing support.
Coloff Media - First Citizens Bank - Alpha Media home of KGLO News, Star 106.1, 93.9 The Country Moose & 1490 & 96.7 KRIB - Creative Sound - Bergland + Cram - Henkel Construction
Hope to see you all in downtown Mason City for this spectacular event. May the luck of the Irish be with you!
BY: RACHEL WUMKES
