By Charles Brandt

St. Patrick’s Day may not be until the 17th, but St. Paul isn’t waiting until then to get the party started. Luckypalooza begins at 2 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, March 11th) down on West 7th St. Three party tents will be setup outside Patrick McGovern’s, Burger Moe’s and Cossetta’s, and will have live DJs, beer and food. Patio sections will be open at both Burger Moe’s and Patrick McGovern’s.

The street party goes until 11 p.m. and will have traditional Irish music, bands, indoor and outdoor DJs, merch, and food and drinks galore. Want more? There will also be mechanical bulls and extreme sports sponsored by Red Bull. Dragon Fire Theater will be performing live, Dustin Grice will be in attendance with The Megaramp BMX Show, and West 7th will also make way for a Ride MN sponsored Activation Area starting at 3 p.m., complete with high jumps, 360s, a Superman contest and mystery grand finale. It’s a crowd pleaser on two wheels, so make sure not to miss it.

Ready to get your grub on? There will be food stands throughout the area, food trucks, and celebratory special Irish food item menus at local restaurants on West 7th St. Don’t forget that in addition to Patrick McGovern’s, Burger Moe’s and Cossetta’s, that New Bohemia, Louis, Eagle Street Grille, Downtowner Woodfire Grill, Zamboni’s Pizza and Tom Reid’s are all in the area. You won’t have to look far for some corned beef and other traditional Irish food selections to go along with your celebratory drinks.

Movin’ Inside
The party moves off the streets and into the local bars later in the evening at 11 p.m. Venues will be packed with more music, food, drinks and celebratory fun until 1 a.m. DJ Michael Grey will be playing until 12:30 a.m. at Burger Moe’s, along with live music at Patrick’s, New Bohemia and Tom Reid’s.

Free Ride
To top it all off, fill out a quick survey and you can get a free metro pass for Luckypalooza from Metro Transit for select times during the day.