Irish roots run deep;
St. Patrick’s Day celebration guide 2026

St. Patrick’s Day celebration guide 2026
By Tim Spitzack | Editor | March 2026

When the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade weaves its way through downtown St. Paul, you can bet residents of the St. Paul Voice distribution area will be well-represented among the green-clad revelers. According to census data, St. Paul has more than 30,000 people of Irish ancestry and neighboring West St. Paul, South St. Paul and Mendota Heights each have a few thousand. In the 19th century, immigrants from Ireland settled on the West Side Flats and eventually branched out to form today’s robust Irish American population.

Part of the city’s charm lies in its diversity and the way descendants of early immigrants cling tightly to their heritage. This month, the Irish take center stage and several events reflect traditions from the Emerald Isle that have become woven into the fabric of our region. Here are ways to celebrate or learn more about Irish culture and traditions.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade
The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade has attracted Irish and non-Irish alike since 1967. It starts at noon, Tuesday, Mar. 17 at Mears Park in downtown St. Paul and travels along 5th Street to Rice Park. The parade is hosted by The St. Patrick’s Association, which annually selects a Miss Shamrock – the Queen of Green – and six Shamrock Princesses to serve as ambassadors of the organization and represent St. Paul’s Irish community at regional events. Mary Fischer is the reigning queen. Her successor will be named at the Miss Shamrock 2026 coronation ceremony, held at 5 p.m., Thursday, Mar. 12, at the Minnesota Music Café, 501 Payne Ave., St. Paul.

According to the Association, the city of St. Paul hosted Minnesota’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1851. The organization picked up the torch 60 years ago and has been running with it ever since. For other events and activities, visit stpatsmn.org.

Irish Day of Dance & St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
Irish Arts Minnesota will present the annual Irish Day of Dance 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, Mar. 15, and the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday, Mar. 17, both at the Landmark Center, 75 5th St. W., St. Paul. The Day of Irish Dance features performance and competition teams, and the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration has local and regional music on four stages; traditional Irish dancing from local dance schools and adult performance groups; an Irish marketplace; seminars on Irish topics; a children’s stage and free craft activities; and food and beer. Tickets begin at $7 for both events.

Irish Arts Minnesota is a nonprofit cultural arts organization that promotes the traditional arts of Ireland. Since its founding in 1982, it has worked with organizations, individuals and community groups to promote Irish music, song, dance, storytelling, theater, language and crafts. For other events and classes, visit irishartsmn.org.

Photography exhibit
Photographer Tom Dunn is presenting his exhibit “Irish of Minnesota” through March 20 at the Landmark Center. It features 70 photos that celebrate the lives, stories and identities of Minnesotans with Irish heritage. Many of those photographed are from St. Paul and the surrounding area. He started the project 10 years ago and now has 100 portraits in the collection, which has been featured at the Irish Fair in St. Paul and other venues in the Twin Cities. The portraits were shot in black and white, and subjects range in age from infants to 90-plus. Some are from notable Irish American families, including the McDonald Sisters, four siblings who became nuns and devoted their lives to fighting for peace and social justice. They were featured in the documentary “Four Sisters For Peace” on Twin Cities Public Television in 2004 and were the subject of the play “Sisters of Peace” that premiered at the History Theatre in 2019.

Dunn said the project has helped him understand his own Irish ancestry and better appreciate the deep sense of pride that exists in St. Paul’s Irish community. You can see several of the photos on his Facebook page, Irish of Minnesota. The exhibit at the Landmark Center is free.

Irish entertainment
The Celtic Junction Arts Center, 836 Prior Ave. N., St. Paul, is presenting the following acts in March:

• Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones, 6 p.m., Sunday, Mar. 1. $25.
• Kickin’ It Irish, March 6-8, 13, 15, 17. $30.
• Altan, 7 p.m., Saturday, Mar. 7, at The Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis. From $52.
• Paul Byrom – “Songs from Home,” 7 p.m., Saturday, Mar. 21. From $35.
• The High Kings, 7 p.m., Sunday, Mar. 22 at The Fitzgerald Theatre, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul. From $53.
  The center also offers classes in Irish language, history, literature and creative arts. For more information, visit celticjunction.org.
• The Dubliner Pub, 2162 University Ave., St. Paul, has a full calendar of entertainment in March. Visit
  thedublinerpub.com.

St. Patrick’s Day food and drink
Looking for a pint of Guinness, corned beef and cabbage or other Irish fare on St. Patrick’s Day? Visit one of St. Paul’s notable Irish establishments, including Patrick McGovern’s; Casper’s & Runyon’s Shamrocks, and The Nook; Emmett’s Public House; Dubliner; J.R. Mac’s; Joe and Stan’s; and Halftime Rec. For a jolt of java, visit Claddagh and Wee Claddagh. St. Patrick’s Day is officially celebrated on March 17.

Notable connections
Cathedral of St. Paul – Irish-born Archbishop John Ireland oversaw the cathedral’s design and construction, beginning in 1906 and lasting eight years. The first Mass was on Palm Sunday, 1915. Nearby John Ireland Boulevard is named for the archbishop, whose work helping Irish immigrants settle here gave St. Paul the reputation of being an Irish Catholic city. By the 1860s, parishioners had organized St. Michael’s Church on the West Side so families didn’t have to pay for ferry service to cross the river to attend Mass.

Harriet Island – As noted earlier, the West Side was home to the earliest Irish immigrants in the region. Today, people of Irish heritage still gather on the West Side each August to attend the Irish Fair, held on Harriet Island and billed as the largest free Irish fair in the nation. The event celebrates Irish heritage through music, dance, Gaelic sports, children’s activities, a Celtic marketplace, cultural displays, and Irish food and drink. Bands perform on six stages throughout the weekend. This year’s event is held Aug. 7-9. For more details, visit irishfair.com.

Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary – Today’s nature sanctuary was once the site of a village of working-class Irish immigrants that locals called Connemara Patch because many of the families came from the Connemara region of County Galway, Ireland. They were recruited by Archbishop John Ireland following the devastating crop failure in western Ireland in 1879.
Lake Phalen on the East Side is named after Edward Phelan, an infamous individual and one of St. Paul’s earliest Irish settlers. It is unknown why the spelling of the lake differs from his surname; perhaps it was a clerical error. Phelan was accused of the first murder in St. Paul – of John Hays – but was acquitted. A year later he was indicted for perjury but fled to California before he could be prosecuted. On the way, he was killed by traveling companions in what they called an act of self-defense.