5 Ways To Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day Near Arlington Heights

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday this year. Entertainment districts in Arlington Heights will be swimming in Kelly green, and perhaps flashing red and blue lights if people don’t behave themselves.

And devout Catholics may have to consult their parish priest before they dig into a plate of corned beef and cabbage.

Some of the places in and near Arlington Heights to celebrate the March 17 holiday are:

• 9:30 a.m. March 17 — St Patrick's Day Theme Class + Craft, Camelot Park Community Cente, 1005 E. Suffield Drive, Arlington Heights. Day theme class and craft open to all. To RSVP, visit here.
• 10 a.m. March 17 — St. Patty's Day Pup Paw-ty, Tailchasers Arlington Pet Resort, 213 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights. Your pup will enjoy a St Patrick's Day-themed photo, a special healthy treat, and a take-home activity for the pet parents featuring an 11-inch shamrock-shaped wood piece that the pups will paint themselves. Find out more here.
• 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. March 17 — Peggy Kinnane's Irish Restaurant & Pub, 8 N. Vail Ave., Arlington Heights. Live music with Ken Dix at 7 p.m. Irish dancers, bag pipers. No reservations, walk-ins only
• 5 p.m - 11 p.m. March 17 — St. Patrick's Day Bar Crawl, Wheeling Town Center, 375 W Dundee Rd, Wheeling. Enjoy food and drink specials at your favorite Wheeling Town Center bars and restaurants.
• 5:30 p.m. March 17 — Cook, Cork & Fork, 34 W Palatine Road, Palatine. The cooking school won’t have any parades, but will have plenty of good food. On the menu: mustard crusted pork, Dublin coddle (potato stew), and apple and cabbage slaw. Wine and beer are available for purchase. Read more here.

The Arlington Heights Police Department is asking residents participating in St. Patrick's Day festivities to be safe on the road by finding a designated driver if you choose to drink. Police are stepping up seat belt speeding and distracted driving enforcement through Saturday.

Devout Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, a sacrifice that recognizes Jesus’ death on the cross on a Friday. Catholics in several suburban Chicago towns can eat the traditional fare without guilt, but the Archdiocese of Chicago is holding firm.

Whether revelers in cities like heavily Catholic Chicago, one of the most St. Patrick-y cities in the country, go all in with the holiday staple corned beef and cabbage could come down to whether they get special dispensation from the diocese.

There are several Lenten fish fries going on for Catholics who want to play it by the rules.

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