San Diego 2006 St. Patrick's Day Celebrations

Balboa Park St. Patrick's Day Festival

You won't want to miss San Diego's 2006 St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Although St. Patrick's Day is officially on March 17th, one of the best local celebrations will be a huge St. Patrick's Day Family Festival in Balboa Park on Saturday March 11th. The festivities honoring the patron saint of Ireland kick off at 11 a.m. with the city's 26th annual St. Patrick's Day parade. The parade begins at 6th and Juniper and will proceed west to 5th Avenue, north to Upas Street, east to 6th Avenue, ending at 6th and Laurel.

Members of the San Diego Firefighters' Emerald Society will be marching in the St. Patrick's Day parade, along with their Pipe and Drum unit. Other participants will include high school and middle school bands, step dancer and marching groups, and clowns. There also will be commercial and service organization floats, and equestrians.

A pre-parade mass will be celebrated earlier that morning at 7:30 a.m. at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church located at 1629 Columbia Street in the Little Italy section of downtown San Diego. The mass is sponsored by The Ancient Order of Hibernians, which is the largest Irish ethnic society in the world and the largest Catholic lay organization in America, according to www.aoh.com. The roots of the Ancient Order of Hibernians extend back to ancient Ireland.

The 2006 St. Patrick's Day Family Festival in Balboa Park will feature an enclosed festival area with two stages. Admission is free. Entertainment will include Irish dancers, and Irish bands and singers starting at 1:00 p.m. on March 11th. Other attractions will include a beer garden, Celtic village, and a kid's zone with games and rides, as well as food, and craft booths featuring Irish merchandise.

Parking is scarce in Balboa Park, but free tram service will run from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. during the big St. Paddy's Day festival. Trams will operate every 15 minutes between the Inspiration Point parking lot on Park Boulevard (west of the Naval Hospital) and Sefton Plaza at the intersection of Balboa Drive and El Prado.

"Everybody's Irish" St. Patrick's Day 10K Run

There will also be a San Diego St. Patrick's Day 10K run, along with a 4 mile and 2 mile fun run/walk on March 11th to benefit Children's Hospital. Nearly two thousand participants are expected. The event starts at 7:30 a.m. at Mission Bay Park. A special award will be given for the best Irish theme running costume. All participants will receive a t-shirt to commemorate the occasion. Pizza and beer (for those over 21) will be served at the finish line.

You can register online for the "Everybody's Irish" run/walk. Late fees apply after March 3, 2006. Registration fees are as follows:

- 10K Run $23 late fee $28 event day $30
- 2 and 4 Mile Walk $20 late fee $23 event day $28
- Kids under 12 $12 late fee $15

You can also register on the day of the race beginning at 6 a.m. at the start/finish line, south of the Hilton Hotel on East Mission Bay Drive. Call (619) 298-7400 for more information.

Ugly Dog Contest

Dress your pooch up in a St. Paddy's day costume and your favorite canine might win a prize in the Del Mar Kiwanis Club's 11th annual Ugly Dog Contest. If you don't have an ugly dog, there are other categories such as Best St. Paddy's Day Costume, Dog Who Looks Most Like its Owner, Cutest Puppy, and Most Beautiful, among others.

The Kiwanis Club's 11th annual Ugly Dog Contest will be held Sunday, March 12th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Del Mar Fairgrounds Paddock Area, 2250 Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Del Mar, CA, 92014. Proceeds will benefit the Helen Woodward Animal Center. Prior "Ugly Dog" winners have appeared on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno!

Gaslamp Quarter "ShamROCK 2006"

Another huge San Diego Saint Patrick's Day celebration will take place on the streets of the historic Gaslamp Quarter on Friday, March 17th. The outdoor musical block party - dubbed "ShamROCK 2006" - to celebrate the "Wearin` of the Green" will run from 4 p.m. to midnight. As many as 20 thousand people are expected to take to the streets to party at the event.

The band lineup includes:

4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Crossroads, The Field Irish Dancers

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
The Fenians
Irish Rock

8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
The Down's Family
Irish Punk Rock

9:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Skelpin
Irish Punk Rock

10:30 p.m. -11:30 p.m.
NRG
High Energy Dance

Other "ShamROCK 2006" attractions will include green kettlecorn, stilt walkers, and caricature and face painters. Tickets will cost $20 at the gate at 5th & G Street. The Gaslamp St. Patrick's Day block party is only for those ages 21 and up with a valid I.D. For additional information, call 619-233-5008. St. Patrick's Day revelers are encouraged to use the trolley to get to the Gaslamp Quarter for "ShamROCK 2006" since it is never easy to find a parking space in the downtown area of San Diego area.

St. Patrick's Day Open Reading of Irish Poetry and Prose

Toast James Joyce at the 20th annual St. Patrick's Day Open Reading of Irish Poetry and Prose event at D.G. Wills Books, 7461 Girard Avenue in the San Diego community of La Jolla. Members of the public are also invited to read from their favorite selections of other famous Irish poets and writers such as William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw, and Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde. D.G. Wills St. Patrick's Day Open Reading of Irish Poetry and Prose will begin at 7 p.m. on March 17th and continue "until it ends."

St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) is a national holiday in Ireland. St. Patrick was a British missionary to Ireland in the fifth-century. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, a group of Irish raiders took 16 year old Patrick prisoner while attacking his family's estate. He spent six years in captivity as a slave in Ireland and then escaped. Patrick became a priest and later returned to Ireland as a missionary. He converted many of the pagans to Christianity and established monasteries, churches, and schools in the country. Saint Patrick is believed to have died on March 17th in 461 AD.