In honour of the day, several Vancouver bars have special menus and events planned
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It’s time to don your green leggings and/or top hat for the annual celebration of all things Irish.
In honour of St. Patrick’s Day — and for people looking for an excuse to go on a pub-crawl — several Vancouver bars have special menus and events planned. Also, CelticFest is returning, albeit with fewer events than previous years.
To help us separate the paddywhackery from the chaff, we consulted local comedian and Irish import, Amy Walsh, who is hosting two events this year: A comedy night March 14 at Foy’s and an Irish variety show March 15 at the Rio Theatre.
The Barrelman: Spirits of Dublin Popup
You had us at “Guinness for a year.” Every purchase from the special menus of this pop-up earns a scratch card with a top prize of Guinness for a year, alongside instant prizes. And what’s on the special menu? Besides cocktails made with Guinness and Jameson, The Barrelman will be serving up “Irish pub food favourites” like mini-jambons, spice bag, curry cheese chips and the chicken filet rolls. Walsh assures us that these are real foods that real Irish people eat. “They’re all kind of modern Irish food classics,” she said. Curry cheese chips “is our version of poutine, but better. You can quote me on that. In poutine, the cheese curds don’t melt. That’s the kicker for me.” Spice bag is “fries, or chips as we call them, with peppers, onions, chicken, and a load of spices. That’s relatively new. It started over in the east of the country, in Chinese take-aways.”
The Blarney Stone
Established in 1972, The Blarney Stone bills itself as “Vancouver’s longest-standing Irish pub.” To celebrate its 53rd St. Patrick’s Day, the Gastown alehouse is starting at 9 a.m. with an Irish Brunch Party. All-day entertainment includes live bands, Celtic dancers, a piper and DJ Zeus.
Fable Diner and Bar
Fable celebrates with a pub-crawl on March 15, DJ sets Friday and Saturday night, free pool and darts, special Guinness and Irish whiskey features, and Irish music all weekend. For the hardcore, there’s St. Patty’s trivia on March 17.
The Irish Heather
According to proprietor Sean Heather, “We have dinner and an Irish whiskey tasting for $45++ on Thursday evening. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are filled with folk unable or unwilling to join us on March 17. On St. Patrick’s Day, we have Irish dancers from the O’Brien School, Irish pipers from the B.C. Regiment. Over the four days, we’ll be serving up Irish dishes: Beef and Guinness Stew on Colcannon, Smoked Salmon on Brown Bread, Seafood Chowder with Soda Bread, etc. And, of course, we’ll have lashings of creamy Guinness.”
CelticFest Vancouver: What’s the Craic? A Night of Irish Devilry
Amy Walsh returns to hosting the annual Irish variety show, which includes live music, pole-dancing, comedy and more. “It’s absolutely bonkers,” says Walsh, who moved here from Ireland in 2021. “I’ve never done anything like this at home before, but I think it would go down great at home. We actually have two pole dancers this year.” Among the acts is Clare Voyeur, show producer and burlesque dancer, who performs a routine wearing a plastic bag over her head, emulating Irish podcaster/activist Blindboy Boatclub. “I took his podcast audio and sliced it apart/pieced it back together to create a narrative about my performance as I’m performing it,” Voyeur told us. “Basically made it into a naughty version of the podcast to parody Blindboy and tell the story of what I’m doing on stage. It’s very meta.”
CelticFest Vancouver: Hermitage Green
Limerick folk-rock band Hermitage Green plays songs from its most recent album, 2024’s Connection. Local acts Paul Caldwell and Fionn open the show. CelticFest promises a “classic Irish atmosphere” at the concert, with “engaging activations, a photo booth, and plenty of opportunities to mix and mingle with Vancouver’s Irish community and those ‘Irish for a day.’”