The 85-year-old Financial District Irish pub Harrington’s is reopening in time for St. Patrick’s Day weekend! That highlights three days of parades, parties, Irish food fare, and of course DUI checkpoints.

Time to get lucky! St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday this year, which means the parties wiill start Friday night, and continue all weekend long. If you want to brogue with the bros, there are pub crawls on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, under the name LepraCon (which we have to admit is clever). Out at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell, there’s a Friday Happy Hour St. Patrick’s Day Celebration free concert from 4:30-7 pm featuring Shana Morrison (Van Morrison’s daughter). And over in the Financial District, the bar Schroeder’s has their annual St. Patrick’s Day Block Party from 3-10 pm.  

And holy shillelagh! The patron saint of all FiDi Irish dive bars, Harrington’s Bar & Grill, has reopened in time for Saint Patrick's Day! You’ll recall that the 85-year-old Harrington’s closed permanently during the pandemic, but has tried to reopen in fits and starts. But the SF Business Times reported in February that the bar at 245 Front Street would soon be reopening with the help of Tonic Nightlife Group’s Ben Bleiman. And as we see above, Harrington’s reopened Thursday, has a block party Friday night, and will be open for shots and such after Saturday’s parade (as well as before Saturday’s parade).

And yes, Saturday will be the 173rd Annual San Francisco St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It starts at 11:30 am Saturday at Market at Second streets, and then ‘snakes’ its way down Market Street to Civic Center. Then at 2 pm at Civic Center, there will be live performances by The Hooks, Glide Ensemble and Change Band, and Dublin Soul. Organizers add the performances will also “honor the legacies of Sinéad O'Connor and Shane MacGowan, two titans of Irish music who left us in 2023.”

Saturday will also see a free St. Patrick's Parade Day Extravaganza at the old Hibernia Bank building at 1 Jones Street, which is very family friendly if you want to bring the little people.

Also on Saturday night, you’d better believe that SFPD will have DUI checkpoints across town. “San Francisco Police Department’s Traffic Company will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint this Saturday, March 16th, 2024, at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of 7:00 pm and 3:00 am,” the department says in a release.”Checkpoint locations are chosen based on a history of DUI crashes and arrests.”

Come Sunday, when you really have your Irish up for some corned beef and cabbage or other Irish fare, Tablehopper has a list of Irish food celebrations on St. Patrick’s Day. Highlights include the obligatory Johnny Foley’s meal (with Gunness cheesecake!), Irish ravioli at Original Joe’s, and Hayes Street Grill offering an “Irish whisky sundae.”

And it will surely be with the trip to Berkeley for Sunday’s St. Patrick's Day at the Starry Plough 50th Anniversary Edition. There’s a slew or Irish bands playing, several dance troupes, and of course they’ll be serving shepherd’s pie, corned beef & cabbage, and Irish soda bread. It’s free before 5 pm, $15-$20 sliding scale after 5 pm, or advance tickets are $10.

If you plan on smokin’ the green, be warned that your favorite cannabis dispensary might be much busier than usual. According to the cannabis data company BDSA, St. Patrick’s Day is the “the fourth largest [day of the year] for cannabis sales, following 4/20, Green Wednesday, and Black Friday.” (Green Wednesday refers to the day before Thanksgiving).

Related: A Look At San Francisco's St. Patrick's Day Parade And Its Gold Rush History [SFist]

Image: Chris W. via Yelp