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Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City With the Family
Every March, the Red Kingdom turns green for a few days to celebrate our rich history of Irish culture. This usually means pub crawls, parades, and parties where beer flows as freely as the Missouri. But for a more family-friendly way to celebrate, there are plenty of ways to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City! As one of KC’s most popular cultural hubs, Union Station knows some great ways to enjoy the green kingdom!
Pick Your Party
Instead of simply going to your favorite pub in Power and Light for a party, there are many other fun ways for the whole family to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City! Almost every neighborhood has a parade and events to celebrate, so which will you attend? Here are some of our favorites!
Snake Saturday Parade and Festival
North Kansas City has deep ties to Irish culture in our city, so it’s no surprise that it has one of the longest-running events! Snake Saturday gets its name from the tall tale that St. Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland. Since 1983, the parade and festivities continue to be a family-favorite way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City.
Every great celebration in KC starts with a parade. So join a few thousand of your closest friends along the route at 11:00AM! The day continues with a charity cook off, a lads and lassies competition, and a festival you don’t want to miss.
If you think you’ve got the cutest little lad or lassie in the land, enter them in the Lads and Lassies competition! The Saturday before the parade, two children from two age groups are selected to join the parade based on their Irish pride.
After the parade, join a sea of green with carnival rides, concessions, a car show, and more, all between Howell Street and Fayette Street. Throughout the day, there are other great events to enjoy as well! For more details about all of the day’s events, head to the Snake Saturday website!
Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day Parade
In the heart of Kansas City, you’ll find our most historic St. Patrick’s Day parade. Over five decades of tradition, passion, and civic pride come together to make this one of the largest single-day celebrations in Kansas City. In 1974, a group of friends out for a pint at Hogerty’s cocktail lounge decided that KC needed a parade to celebrate Irish heritage. So, that’s exactly what they planned!
The parade started with humble beginnings on March 15th, 1974. Daniel Thomas Hogerty led a band of businesspeople, shoppers, and proud citizens on a grand parade route that stretched a block and a half. What was originally billed as “the world’s shortest and worst parade” grew into one of the city’s biggest events celebrating the impact Irish citizens had on Kansas City.
Now the Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day Parade starts in what was traditionally called Kerry Patch after the large Irish population that lived there in the 1800s. Throughout the parade route down Broadway, bagpipes, dancers, marching bands, and more pass by buildings built by some of KC’s first Irish citizens. You can hear the history vibrate off of the limestone Irishmen quarried all those years ago. So, if your family only sees one parade this St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City, make it this one.
Brookside St. Patrick’s Day Warm-Up
In Brookside, the community comes together to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City with one of the biggest parades of the day! With over 100 organizations and businesses coming together to celebrate, there’s something for the whole family to love.
The St. Patrick’s Day Warm-Up kicks off at 2:00PM in the heart of the historic Brookside shops. This is one of the most popular parades of the day, so we suggest getting there with plenty of time to pick your spot! On the Kansas side, there’s no shortage of fun to be had.
Shawnee St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Civic pride is in full swing in Shawnee on St. Patrick’s Day! Along Johnson Drive, a sea of green sweeps up the eyes of thousands of locals who love to support local heritage. At 1:00PM, enjoy the parade along the route from Monrovia to Nieman Road. Then, head to Shamrock O’Market at Shawnee City Hall to support local makers and try some traditional tastes. Toward the end of the day, place your bets on the rubber duck race! Proceeds from the race benefit Shawnee Sister Cities, including Erfurt, Germany; Pittem, Belgium; and Listowel, Ireland!
As you can see, it’s not hard to find a great time this St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City! While thousands take part in bar crawls throughout the city, Union Station knows a family-friendly way to hit our historic streets and have a blast with the kiddos.
Run, Don’t Crawl!
The Westport St. Patrick’s Day Run is one of our favorite ways to get the blood pumping on St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City. Since 1979, Westport has kicked off St. Patrick’s Day with this 4-mile fun run. Instead of a firing pistol, bagpipers signal the start just south of the intersection of Westport Road and Pennsylvania Avenue at 10:00AM.
Unlike your typical bar crawl, this race replaces beer with water to keep runners hydrated as they pass through historic Irish neighborhoods. At the end of the race, you’ll be greeted by the sweet sounds of bagpipes and savory snacks. Alongside this race, many Westport area shops have race day specials and unique menus to celebrate the holiday!
Little Shamrock’s Run
Before the bagpipes begin the big race, the Little Shamrock’s Run is a great way to get the kiddos involved as well! The course is a 1-block dash toward the finish line in Westport. Every little shamrock gets a short-sleeve shirt, gift bag, and a finisher medal when they pick up their packet.
Teams of families and friends are encouraged to enjoy this tradition in Westport, so sign up to celebrate heritage and take part in this historic race! Heritage and history are huge parts of our favorite ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City. So, to truly understand Irish culture, Union Station knows just where to go!
Celebrate History
If you’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City with the family, a dusty museum is probably the last place you want to go. Luckily, history is alive and well in our city! To experience KC’s rich Irish heritage firsthand, here are a few great destinations!
Browne’s Irish Market
To understand the significance of Browne’s Irish Market, you should start by learning the amazing story behind this historic storefront! This is how Browne’s became one of the most significant Irish staples in the Kansas City community.
In the 1880s, one market gave Irish immigrants a taste of their homeland. Ed and Mary Flavin from County Kerry, Ireland, started Flavin’s Market to provide common ground for their community. They aimed to provide quality food, goods, and culture to customers and countrymen alike. The market became a runaway success, and in 1901, they moved their business from the front of their home to a new store on the corner of 33rd and Pennsylvania.
As Ed and Mary eyed retirement, they wanted to pass their business on to the next generation. That’s when Browne’s got its name! Their daughter, Margaret, and her husband, James Browne, carried the market into the 20th century with the same traditions carried over from County Kerry.
Through the Great Depression and two world wars, Browne’s remained a pillar of the Kansas City Irish community by allowing customers to pay what they could. Their storefront would keep their community alive through some of the hardest times, and in turn, the community kept Browne’s bustling.
Now, over a century later, Browne’s Irish Market continues to provide a taste of Irish tradition. With the 5th generation of the Browne family at the helm, this storefront is one of the oldest continuously operating family businesses in North America. Browne’s is a traditional gathering place before the KC St. Patrick’s Day Parade and works to celebrate and support the Irish community every day. To smell, see, and taste Irish culture, it’s hard to beat Browne’s!
KC Irish Center
To celebrate Irish and Celtic culture beyond St. Patrick’s Day, the Kansas City Irish Center is a great destination year-round. In its early days, the center was housed in Union Station. But after garnering so much support from the community, the organization needed a bigger space! Drexel Hall became their permanent home in 2016, and their list of events continues to grow every year.
The Irish Center hosts regular classes and events devoted to keeping Irish and Celtic culture alive in Kansas City. Their #secondsaturday classes are opportunities for people to trace their genealogy and understand their roots. Every month, the center teaches Céilí to learn and enjoy traditional Irish dancing. With classes and events for everything from dancing and crafts to language and art, the KC Irish Center is a great place to immerse the whole family!
Union Station Stories
To walk in the footsteps of thousands of Irish families who helped shape Kansas City, visit Union Station! Our halls may house amazing attractions and unforgettable events now, but a century ago, they played a very different role. From influential powerhouses like the Pendergasts to blue collar heroes like the Brownes, families made a new life by arriving through our doors.
Learn the history of Kansas City’s front porch by climbing the Union Station Stories. Under our gigantic windows, we showcase the story of Union Station and the people who built the city we call home. Through three levels, you’ll find artifacts and passages sharing the story of Union Station and the people who built it.
There are so many stories to tell, and many more to be told. So, let this St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City be about more than just shamrocks and leprechauns. Learn more about the amazing cultures that call KC home with the whole family!
Lá fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh!
(lah leh PAH-drig SUN-uh YEE-uv)
That’s happy St. Patrick’s Day to you in Gaelic. Now that you know how to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Kansas City, join the green kingdom to celebrate diverse KC cultures every day! Start your journey through history where so many people made it. Plan your visit to Union Station. We’re excited to welcome you aboard!