Ways To Celebrate St. Patrick's Day 2023 In Bethesda

BETHESDA, MD — St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday this year. Restaurants and bars around Bethesda will be swimming in Kelly green, and perhaps flashing red and blue lights if people don’t behave themselves.

And devout Catholics may have to consult their parish priest before they dig into a plate of corned beef and cabbage.

The Washington Regional Alcohol Program's 2023 St. Patrick’s SoberRide program is planned between 4 p.m. Friday, March 17 and 4 a.m. on Saturday, March 18. Because the holiday is considered a high-risk time for intoxicated driving, the program will offer a Lyft ride up to $15.

Related:

• Free Sober Rides Offered For St. Patrick's Day 2023 In DC Region
• MD Police Beef Up Patrols For St. Patrick's Day Weekend

Some of the places in Bethesda and elsewhere in Montgomery County to celebrate the March 17 holiday are:

• Caddies: Caddies will open at 11:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and live bands will take the stage at 9:30 p.m. each night. Check out food and drink specials for March Madness and St. Patrick's. Caddies is located 4922 Cordell Ave. in Bethesda.
• BabyCat Brewery St. Patrick's Day Party 2023: Friday at 3 p.m. in Kensington. This St. Patrick's Day Party will take over the brewery’s parking lot with music, food, family fun and beer. The party will feature live music from Stringtown and Vinyl Fever. Kids under 12 can go for free; people aged 12 to 20 will pay $5 and adult tickets will be $20.
• St. Patrick's Day: Starting at 12 p.m., on Friday, Silver Branch Brewing Company located at 8401 Colesville Road, Suite 150, in Silver Spring is offering a selection of Irish food and drinks.
• Dovetail Joints at Silver Strings: To celebrate the holiday, Silver Strings, which is located at 8630 Colesville Road in Silver Spring, will feature music from Irish bands starting at 4 p.m.
• St. Patrick's Day Party-A feast day in Lent: St. Mary's Catholic Church, which is located at 520 Veirs Mill Road in Rockville, is hosting a St. Patrick's Day Party featuring Irish beer and fare from 6-8:30 p.m. Enjoy live music featuring Father James and friends.
• St. Patrick's Day Street Festival: Finnegan's Wake Irish Pub locate at 100 Gibbs St., Unit #F in Rockville is hosting a two-day street festival starting at 9 a.m. on Friday. Food and drinks will be served both days. Roche from DC101 will be broadcasting live from 3-7 p.m., on Friday and Saturday will feature live performances all day.

Devout Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, a sacrifice that recognizes Jesus’ death on the cross on a Friday. Catholics in several suburban Chicago towns can eat the traditional fare without guilt, but the Diocese of Chicago is holding firm.

Whether revelers in cities like heavily Catholic Chicago, one of the most St. Patrick-y cities in the country, go all in with the holiday staple corned beef and cabbage could come down to whether they get special dispensation from the diocese.

Catholic revelers from Silver Spring will be happy to learn that Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, has granted Catholics in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, which includes Montgomery County, dispensation from the abstinence from meat on March 17 this year. This extends to any Catholics who are in the diocese during St. Patrick's Day.

"It is not required that anyone make use of this dispensation. Those who do wish to make use of it are encouraged to abstain from meat on some other day as part of their penitential practices during Lent," according to Gregory's decree.