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

BURKE, VA — St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday this year. Restaurants and bars around Burke 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 Burke and nearby to celebrate the March 17 holiday are:

• Council 7992 St. Patrick's Day Dinner: The annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner is back live at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 18. The menu, featuring the Council's famous corned beef with all the sides, will be served. Nativity Catholic Church in Burke, 6400 Nativity Lane in Burke.
• St. Patrick's Day at The Auld Shebeen: Fairfax City's own Irish pub, which is located at 3971 Chain Bridge Road, will be offering its usual selection of Irish fare and drinks on St. Patrick's Day. Diners will also be able to enjoy traditional Irish music by The Flying Cows of Ventry and Conor Malone. Tim Trant will also be performing from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for a St. Patrick's Day Luncheon.
• Cheers and Beers: Ornery Brewpub, which is located at 3950 University Drive in Fairfax, is celebrating St. Patrick's Day with the beer tapping of a dry Irish stout and Steal A Pint night. The Boyle School of Irish Dance will also perform at 6 p.m.
• St. Patrick's Day Special - Perfume/Cologne Workshop: DIY Scent Studios located at 4007 University Drive in Fairfax is hosting a workshop to help customers create their own Irish cologne/perfume. Tickets are available online.

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.