St. Patrick's Day starts this weekend in Fort Collins

It started as as a religious feast day on the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick and has morphed into a day filled with beer, parades and corned beef and cabbage. And though it's thousands of miles away and across the Atlantic from Ireland, Fort Collins won't let the original Irish have all the fun on St. Patrick's Day.

On Saturday, Lucky Joe's Sidewalk Saloon will host its annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in Old Town.

Starting at 10 a.m., the parade will weave through the downtown side streets, ending on Mountain Avenue. An Old Town Irish Party will also start at 10 a.m., bringing food, drinks and live music to Linden and Walnut streets until 5 p.m.

But if you'd like the day to be about more than Guinness, there's the 17th annual Sharin' O' the Green 5K run/walk, which starts before the parade, at 8:30 a.m. at Library Park, 200 Mathews St. For more information or to register, visit www.downtownfortcollins.com.

Several bars and restaurants will also start celebrating Saturday.

•The Mainline, 125 S. College Ave., will kick off its patio season Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m. From noon to 2 p.m., there will also be live music and Shillalies, a shot made with Bailey's and Jameson Irish whiskey.

•Snowbank Brewing, 225 N. Lemay Ave., Suite 1, will host Umami Mobile Eatery on Saturday, serving up Irish-inspired fare. On St. Patrick's Day, the brewery will also tap its Irish Car Bomb Stout.

•On St. Patrick's Day, grab a green beer at Road 34, 1213 W. Elizabeth St., as they offer specials on Colorado Car Bombs, Odell Brewing's Nitro Cutthroat Porter or Lefthand's Milk Stout, Jameson, Guinness, Irish Car Bombs and green Coors Lights.

•William Oliver's Publick House, 2608 S. Timberline Road, will start its celebrations on Friday, when all of its Irish whiskeys will be discounted. It will also tap Horse and Dragon Brewing Company's Irish Red and, beginning at 4 p.m. on St. Patrick's Day, all of the proceeds from the keg will be donated to the Firefighter Community Compassion Fund.

•Mulligan's Pub & Sports Club, 2439 S. College Ave., will host three days of live music and Irish dancing on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. No cover is required.

•Pappy's Corner Pub, 1027 Horsetooth Road, will host live music by Four the Good Times.

Who was St. Patrick?

Born in Britain around 400 A.D., Patrick was kidnapped by Irish pirates and brought to Ireland when he was 16. He escaped after 17 years as a slave, but returned to Ireland as a missionary. He is known as the patron saint of Ireland and is said to have died on March 17.

How has the celebration changed?

Once known as a religious feast in honor of Ireland's patron saint, Irish-Americans are actually credited with making St. Patrick's Day into the celebration it is today. New York was home to the first St. Patrick's Day parade in 1762, and it was celebrated elsewhere with banquets at clubs in Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia.

The tradition of corned beef and cabbage was also more American than Irish and started in the 19th century. With many Irish Americans being poor, corned beef was the most affordable meat.

Source: USA Today