5 Ways to Celebrate St Patrick's Day
St Patrick's day is a day to commemorate the life of the patron st of Ireland with a cultural celebration of festivals, drinking, parades, drinking, eating, drinking, socialising and drinking. It's a day when everyone claims to be Irish no matter how far back in their ancestry they have to dig for those roots because the Irish know how to celebrate. Though the drinking aspect has perhaps unfairly taken over some what, the original spirit of togetherness and fun can be shared by all.
If you're not heading to a parade but want to do your own thing to join in the fun here's a handful of ideas;
1) Get your friends together for a game of Beersbee
The rules of this drinking game are simple and the rewards are great. All you need is a frisbee, two poles, the drink of your choice and two teams. Stand the poles between 20-36ft apart and balance an object on top (usually an empty beer bottle). The objective is to take turns to try and knock the object off your opponents pole with the frisbee. If you knock it off, it's a point, first team to reach *however many points you set* wins and the losing team has to take a shot. There's also penalty drink shots for throws that are miles off target. Find out more about the rules at chuggie.co
2) Fancy dress pub crawl
The theme for costumes is anything goes...as long as it's green. Make up prizes for most inventive costume, the greenest and the most Irish, announce the winners at the last pub of the night with perhaps a forfeit for that one person who's turned up wearing denim jeans and thrown on a green t-shirt at the last minute.
3) Throw a family friendly St Patrick's day party
More and more people are reclaiming the original intent of the day and finding ways to celebrate without relying on alcohol to have a good time so whip up some mocktails (I love the vanilla mint milkshake) keep the kids entertained with Irish themed party games and indulge in delicious festive food like these party favorites from McCormick.
4) Host a dinner party
Gather round the table and enjoy traditional Irish dishes cooked with Guinness for extra flavor. You could start with honey-beer braised ribs followed by Irish beef stew and finish up with a yummy chocolate Guinness cake. Check out some recipes at TasteOfHome.
5) Host a movie night with some Irish classics
You could opt for one of a number of serious, critically acclaimed, award winning or controversial films such as 'The Crying Game' or 'In the Name of the Father' or maybe go with the heartwarming yet also heartbreaking 'My Left Foot' but since the day is meant to be more of a celebration it's probably best to keep things light-hearted with choices like 'Waking Ned Devine' and 'The Commitments' is a must.
Check out our St Patrick's Day Collection below for slogan tees, beer steins, party supplies and more to help get your festivities started and rock Paddy's day in style.
Image links to product collection on Zazzle where you can make a purchase
