‘Washington Goes Irish’ event set for Saturday
A wee bit of Ireland is coming to the city of Washington this weekend.
The sixth annual “Washington Goes Irish” festival is scheduled for noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. This year’s event is being held a little earlier than in past years.
“We usually do it the weekend of St. Patrick’s Day,” said Shana Brown, Main Street manager for the Washington Business District Authority. “I wanted to do something different this year, give everybody a chance to spread themselves out since there’s so much going on. I want to get as many people as possible here.”
Brown said there will be 19 stops for “Washington Goes Irish,” featuring a little something for everybody.
“I broke it into two categories this year, to let everyone know this isn’t a 21-and-up event anymore,” Brown said. “One of the main missions of the BDA is to be welcoming and inclusive for all of our events. With the bar crawl, you are catering to people 21 and up, but this year we have a lot of stops where they are offering things for the entire family.”
Stops on this year’s pub crawl feature drink specials at a number of city establishments, plus a vendors’ market at Venue Nineteen North, where the Shovlin Academy of Irish dance will perform at 1 p.m.
Other city businesses will offer food and shopping specials, including the recently opened Cutting Board Deli, which will feature Irish cream coffee, Irish cream bundt cake and Reuben soup along with its regular menu.
Brown will be stationed at the Cheerful Balloon, which will have an Irish backdrop and photo booth. “I’ll be there handing out passports for the event and stamping passports. We’ll also have the maps at the Cheerful Balloon.”
Information for the stops also is available on the business district authority Facebook page.
“It has definitely grown throughout the years,” Brown said.
Cash bash planned
Also scheduled for Saturday is the Washington Park Cash Bash at Julian’s Catering & Banquet Facility, 78 W. Maiden St.
Doors open at 5:15 p.m. with the first number being pulled at 6 p.m.
“The whole goal of the cash bash is to raise at least the deposit for the fireworks for the Fourth of July Spark in the Park celebration,” said DeAnna Martin, park director.
Tickets are $25 and include food and beer. There will be a cash bar at the event. Tickets can be purchased at the park office and City Hall, and some may be available at the door as well.
“We are close to capacity,” Martin said of ticket sales. “Not everyone attends. Some people just buy tickets to support the park. You do not have to be present to win. That’s where we’re different from some of the other ones. If you’re not there for the big drawing at the end of the night, at some places they cut your winnings in half. We don’t do that.”
The venue has a capacity of 300, but 500 tickets are available for purchase.