It’s St. Paddy's Day on 17 March, folks! Another chance for English people to realise they have no idea when St. George’s Day is, and that they’re better off tagging along with celebrations for the Green Isle. Here's our guide to St Patrick's Day events in Manchester and Liverpool.

Manchester

The St. Patrick's Day parade and Manchester Irish Festival

Seems old St Patrick’s milking it a bit again, with the Manchester parade (Sunday 13 March) taking over the city some four days before the big day itself, in a move that’s not dissimilar to those people who insist on having a ‘Birthday Week’. Start off at the Irish World Heritage Centre (bet you never knew we had one of those), or join in at some point along the route before it ends in Albert Square.

As always, the day also coincides with Manchester Irish Festival, which runs from Friday 4-Sunday 20 March with comedy, Irish language taster sessions, live music and open mic nights, markets and an entertainment marquee in Albert Square. 

As part of the programming, Fred’s Ale House plays host to Manchester 1990, an exhibition by Irish photographer Anselm Gallagher, whose black and white images capture South Manchester’s Irish community in the 1990s and document major historic events such as the International Thai Boxing match between Ireland and England, and the Northwest CCE Fleadh.

[St. Patrick's Day parade in Manchester]

The all-important Irish breakfast

Start the day properly with a full Irish at the ever-reliable Koffee Pot, where the usual suspects come served alongside white pudding and potato cake.

The aforementioned Irish World Heritage Centre will also be dishing out Irish breakfasts, an Irish carvery and lots of live music throughout the day, while elsewhere in the week it hosts a screening of Irish docudrama A Terrible Beauty, gigs, stepdancing and ceili classes and more. 

And if it’s Thai/Irish fusion you’re after (who isn’t?), you can get your fill in Levenshulme greasy spoon Thairish Café; we can't vouch for the Irish breakfast, but it will come in with a modest price tag... and the potential to team it with a side of red Thai chicken curry.

Club nights and parties

If, as many do, you want to use the occasion merely as an excuse to party, there are special editions of Cherry at Sound Control, F//K Thursdays at Factory, Pinup at Lola Lo and Bounce at 5th Avenue, as well as at 256 in Fallowfield and Canal Street’s Bar Pop, where no doubt the novelty hats, fake leprechaun beards and shots of Apple Sourz will be doing the rounds.

Really, though, we'd recommend just heading to Soup Kitchen, where Percolate have managed to get American DJ, producer and leading light of gender politics, DJ Sprinkles, back in town.

Just want to toast the day with a pint of Guinness?

Manchester sure ain’t short of Irish pubs like Mulligans, O’Shea’s, The Shamrock, Waxy O’Connor’s, Chorlton Irish Club, Duffy’s Bar, St. Kentigern's Irish Social Club and Hennigan’s Sports Bar.

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Liverpool

Liverpool St. Patrick’s Day parade

Unlike Manchester’s, Liverpool’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is actually held on St. Patrick’s Day, starting on Great Orford Street and Mount Pleasant before snaking through the city centre to its final destination at Derby Square, with the Manchester Community Pipe Band, Cambria Welsh Drum band and Liverpool Irish Flute Band soundtracking proceedings along the way.

Alternative parties

The women-centric burlesque and variety show Spare Rib Burlesque returns to The Magnet, marking the occasion with a line-up that's suitably fruity for St. Patrick's Day shenanigans, with performances from Jester Byte, Siren Seymoure, Cin De Lite, Jodie Anderson, Lola Rogue, Cheri Whambam, male burlesquer Rock Hart and Spare Rib founders Tilly Mint and Minxie Coquette. Better still, the show will be in aid of RASA Merseyside, a charity specialising in supporting those affected by rape or sexual abuse.

The Bongo’s Bingo crew have gone all out with a St Patrick’s Day special at Camp and Furnace featuring none other than peppy, uber-Irish 90s girl band B*Witched – though as tickets are long gone, you’ll just have to keep an eye on the Facebook page for returns. 

If you’ve no luck there, alternatives include themed specials of Medication at Arts Club and Upstairs with Adesse at Buyers Club, plus nights at Level and 24 Kitchen Street. Or, brace yourselves, a Seel Street bar crawl.

[Some tasty pints of Guinness. Mmm.]

Drinking spots

Jenny’s Bar, meanwhile, will be hosting an Irish Whiskey tasting session on Saturday 19 March, exploring some of Ireland’s finest whiskeys, or if you're just after a pint you can rely on Liverpool’s bounty of Irish bars, with Pogue Mahone (which roughly translates as ‘kiss my arse’), Shenanigans, O’Neills, Blarney Stone, The Flanagan’s Apple, The Irish House, McCooley’s and The Liffey all good spots to raise a glass to St. Paddy.

In the meantime

As St. Patrick's Day approaches, Liverpool Irish Festival (which takes place later in the year, 13-23 Oct) celebrates the vibrancy and diversity of contemporary Ireland with two short films featuring artists from last year's festival, who explore Irish identity in the modern age, music and culture to prove that it's not all about traditional, stereotyped ideals. You can watch the films here. 

[Rusangano Family performing at last year's Liverpool Irish Festival]

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