On River Street and entertainment:
St. Patrick’s Celebration on the River will be Friday from 10 a.m.-12 a.m./3 a.m. (food and beverage stations) and Saturday from 8 a.m.-12 a.m./3 a.m. (food and beverage stations). The City of Savannah has declared the entire event a Wristband-free zone. River Street is expected to be re-opened Sunday. Savannah Belle’s Ferries will maintain their regular hours of service increasing frequency during peak times. dottie, the River Street streetcar, will not run during the festival. River Street public parking lots will reopen Sunday afternoon. Extended hours of service: 2:55 a.m. closing for bars/restaurants (formerly 1 a.m.). There will be multiple Savannah Riverfront beverage stations in the festival zone. Coke products and Bud Light, Yuengling and other varieties of draft malt beverages will be available. There will be six food vendors (three local) and The Nutty Bavarian within in the control zone to meet the needs of the o’masses! Free public portable toilets will be located in City Parking Lot No’s. 1 and 3 (Barnard Ramp and Lincoln Ramp). Royal Restrooms will be onsite in two locations - $5 stamp per day guarantees clean facilities. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Boys and Girls Club of the Coastal Empire. The best entertainment in town is always on River Street! Enjoy non-stop people-watching along with 30 hours of high energy rock-your-green-socks-off fun by DJ’s-to-Go on the Arbor Stage and more live music than you can shake your shillelagh at in the various pubs and restaurants along the street! Prepare yourself to hear the Seaforth and District All Girls Band from Huron County, Ontario, Canada at 4 p.m. on Friday and the Second Time Arounders Marching Band on March 17 at 3p.m. Of course the sounds of various pipe, fife and drum corps will fill the air as they parade up and down historic River Street throughout the event!
Live Entertainment Venues on the Riverfront!
Bayou Café
March 16 1pm-3pm Don Coyer
3pm-5pm Paul Rader
5pm -9pm Fig Neutrons
9pm -3am Majic Rocks w/ Thomas Claxton
March 17 1pm -3pm Don Coyer
3pm-5pm Paul Rader
5pm-9pm Hitman Blues Band
9pm-3am Thomas Claxton Band
March 18 9pm- close Don Coyer
Bernie’s Oyster Bar
March 16 Karaoke
March 17 Karaoke
Hyatt Regency Savannah
March 16 5pm-3am DJ Diamond Dave
March 17 5pm-3am DJ Diamond Dave
Kevin Barry’s
March 16 2:00p.m – 3:00p.m
March 17 12:00p.m – 1:00a.m
Entertainment – Carol Brown and Seldom Sober
Live Wire Music Hall
March 16 4pm - 7pm Jubal Kane
7pm - 930pm TBA
10pm - 10:30pm Killin Thyme
11pm - Close Same as it Ever Was:A Tribute to The Talking Heads
March 17 2pm - 4pm Jubal Kane
4pm - 7pm The Trainwrecks
7pm - 9pm Jubal Kane
9pm - 11pm Kota Mundi
11pm - Close Passafire
Rocks on the Roof
March 16 & 17 DJ
Tubby’s Tankhouse
March 18 Dinner Jason & Jared
This year the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Savannah will be held Saturday with a traditional start time of 10:15 a.m., following celebration of Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
Savannah began celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in 1813 with a private gathering of the Hibernian Society, a group of Irish Protestants. The first public parade was in 1824. Growing steadily in the 189 years since, Savannah now hosts the second-largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the U.S., attracting over 300,000 visitors from around the world. Saturday’s parade and festivities are expected to draw more than 750,000 visitors to the Hostess City.
The parade begins at the corner of Gwinnett and Abercorn, and makes its way north on Abercorn to Broughton, where it turns east to East Broad Street. The parade turns north on East Broad and then heads west on Bay, past City Hall, where it takes a left on Bull Street, ending at Harris Street.
The Savannah Waterfront Association hosts a festival along the waterfront, including River Street from East Broad Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Festivities include games, food, beverages, and live entertainment. The event is free. For more information, visit www.riverstreetsavannah.com.
River Street will be closed to traffic throughout the festival. The parade route will be closed to traffic beginning Saturday at 7 a.m and lasting through 2 p.m. Bay Street will be closed during the Parade. Vehicles will not be allowed on Bay during these times.
If you’re looking for a place to view the parade, get downtown early, as positions along the route tend to fill up early. Keep in mind that provisions must be maintained to get emergency equipment into any area should the need arise. Parade viewers should not step into the roadways until they are closed to vehicular traffic at their designated times. Parade viewers should position themselves behind the French barricades.
Parade patrons will not be allowed to set up in parks and squares until 6 a.m. Saturday. The only furniture allowed in squares are tables, coolers, lawn chairs and 10-by-10-foot tents. The following are among the items not allowed in squares and parks: grills, amplified sound, scaffolding, advertisements, barriers, bartenders and private security.
All material should be removed from the square by 6 p.m. the day of the parade. The use of city electricity and water is prohibited.
Before parking, be sure that you are legally parked, and not obstructing any roads or driveways, especially around the squares and areas near the parade route. Understand that this will be Savannah’s most populated day of the year and parking will be at a premium, so be careful where you park. Parking Services and Savannah-Chatham Metro Police officers will be ensuring that the roadways are open and unobstructed. Illegally parked cars will be ticketed. Vehicles that obstruct any roadway will be ticketed and towed at the owners’ expense.
Do not move barricades or remove "no parking" bags. Savannah-Chatham Metro Police said the vehicle will be towed and you will incur both towing and storage fees.
To manage crowds and increase pedestrian safety, SCMPD is announcing that Bay Street will be closed to through traffic intermittently after 6 p.m.-4 a.m. today through Saturday. Also, parking on Bay Street, and the public and private parking spaces north of Bay Street, will be restricted beginning at 3 p.m. today and all day Saturday. Additionally, Bay Street will be closed to vehicular traffic Saturday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Parking for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be available at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center beginning at 7 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m. on Saturday for a fee of $10 per vehicle, including a round trip on the water ferry for all vehicle passengers. The Trade Center Parking Lot will not admit vehicles after 3 p.m. Saturday.
The water ferry will run beginning from Savannah International Trade & Convention Center at 7:10 a.m. until midnight for convenience of Trade Center and Westin guests.
The parking garages in downtown Savannah will operate as follows:
Bryan Street — Open 24 hours today-Sunday
Liberty Street — Open 24 hours today-Saturday, closes 5 p.m. Sunday
Robinson — Open 24 hours today-Saturday, closes 1 a.m. Sunday
State Street — Open 24 hours today-Saturday, closes 1 a.m. Sunday
Whitaker Street — Open 24 hours today-Sunday
AAA and Bud Light are extending Tow-to-Go through Saturday. Call 1-800-AAA-HELP (1-800-222-4357). AAA will take the impaired owner and his vehicle home at no charge, and AAA membership not required.
AAA and Bud Light also will bring the Green Team to the celebration through Sunday. AAA technicians on Segways will assist motorists who have locked their keys inside their vehicle, have a flat or need a jump because of a dead battery. Call 1-877-222-7111 for assistance. Again, there is no charge and AAA membership is not required.
