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

ARLINGTON, VA — St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday this year. Restaurants and bars around Arlington 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

Some of the places in Arlington to celebrate the March 17 holiday are:

• The Celtic House: The St. Patrick’s Day event will start at 9 a.m. and include music and Irish dancing. Located at 2500 Columbia Pike.
• O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub: Located at 3207 Washington Blvd., the pub will have Irish dancers and live music on Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18.
• The Lot: The Lot is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with Shamrock & Roll, featuring live entertainment, food trucks, and an Irish tiki bar. Located at 3217 10th Street N.
• Wilson Hardware: Located at 2915 Wilson Blvd., Wilson Hardware is celebrating with Guinness and Jameson specials from opening to 9 p.m. and an all-night dance party.
• The Union: Located 3811 Fairfax Drive, The Union is offering 50 percent off for all small plates until 8 p.m. for anyone wearing green and 50% off drinks after 8 p.m., also for anyone wearing green.
• Clarendon Ballroom: A combined St. Patrick’s Day and March Madness celebration called Irish Madness Fest. The bar, at 3185 Wilson Blvd., will be showing NCAA games and there will be bands, DJs, drink specials, a buffet and more. Doors open at noon and the event runs all day.
• Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub: Doors will open at 10 a.m. and live Irish music will be performed all day, a manager tells us. There will also be live Irish dancing performances throughout the day. Located at 2800 S. Randolph Street.

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.