Grand Rapids celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in many ways on Saturday, from more than 10,000 revelers on Calder Plaza to pubs and breweries. Browse the photos and video at Local Spins.
Party Central: Attendees packed Calder Plaza for the first ‘Irish Off Ionia’ celebration on Saturday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS, PHOTO GALLERY
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As one attendee’s green T-shirt proclaimed: “The party never ends.”
Or another, “Irish today, hungover forever.”
More than 10,000 mostly young revelers, 99 percent of them garbed in green, packed Calder Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids on Saturday for Irish Off Ionia, the revamped and relocated St. Patrick’s Day street party previously known as Irish On Ionia.
With Celtic rock bands, Irish dancers and a DJ pumping things up from the sole stage, one of the warmest IOI’s on record (69 degrees) — and certainly the windiest — rolled out amid occasional sunshine and a sea of green beer for 10 hours or so.
Dressed for the Occasion: Many were on Saturday. (Photo/Local Spins)
The vibe was different in the new location (previous affairs were held on streets near event host HopCat on Ionia Avenue SW) with fewer performers and long lines of attendees waiting to enter the plaza throughout the afternoon.
But happy, drink-toting attendees enthusiastically responded to entreaties from stage emcees to roar for bands, pose for photos and even start “Jared Goff” cheers in honor of the Detroit Lions quarterback.
Many applauded the massive party, others complained on Facebook that “it needed more vendors … something to add besides just drinks and music” and was “way too crowded.”
It was the biggest of many St. Paddy’s festivities heating up the region amid unseasonably warm weather, from City Built Brewing Co.’s “The Irish Remedy” featuring DJs, Grand Rapids & District Pipe Band and food trucks on Monroe Avenue NW to the usual, jam-packed, post-parade entertainment and Irish toasts at Quinn & Tuite’s Irish Pub on Plainfield Avenue NE.
Check out some video highlights and a photo gallery, courtesy of Local Spins. The St. Patrick’s Day fun continues on Monday — yes, St. Patrick’s Day — with performances at Quinn & Tuite’s Irish Pub in Grand Rapids, The Curragh in Holland, Unruly Brewing in Muskegon and elsewhere.
And of course, the world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade takes place at 10:55 a.m. in Conklin, ending with live music at the Conklin Bar.
PHOTO GALLERY: Irish Off Ionia on Calder Plaza
Photos by Anthony Norkus
VIDEO: Irish Off Ionia, The Irish Remedy, Quinn & Tuite’s
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