It’s the wearing, drinking, eating, and celebrating of the green on Historic River Street as the 2016 River Street St. Patrick’s Day Celebration will take place March 17-19 from 10 a.m.-midnight each festival day.
The entertainment area on River Street will feature Club Bullies DJ’s, a social media video board, campaign activities, giveaways and more for all Bud Light Party goers. Enjoy the Savannah Coca-Cola food court plaza and a dance party at the Budweiser “This Buds for You” zone. Local and regional bands will be performing from 11 a.m.-midnight on the Bud Light Live Music Stage. The stage will be located on Rousakis Riverfront Plaza featuring the Bud Light Lime-A-Rita Cabana.
Wristbands are $5 per day and can be purchased at one of 23 locations downtown. Signs will help direct you to one of the white sales tents to purchase your wristband. Cash and credit cards will be accepted at select booth locations. Someone will check your ID, so don’t leave that behind! Make sure to hold onto your ID since bars and restaurants are still required to check them, even if you have a wristband on.
Wristbands are not required during Thursday’s parade but will go into effect after the parade. You only need a wristband if you plan to drink in the control zone, otherwise known as party central. There will be different colored wristbands for each day of the festival. Wristbands are not required inside of establishments serving alcohol.
For more information on festival hours, wristband sales locations and a full band schedule visitriverstreetsavannah.com.
If you’re headed downtown, the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department reminds partygoers that the St. Patrick’s Festival control zone is surrounded by the Savannah River between MLK Jr. Boulevard and East Broad Street. It is bordered to the south just west of Drayton by Broughton and to the east of Drayton by Bay Lane.
Ramp access to River Street will close as early as 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Vehicular access to River Street will be restricted to the MLK, Jr. Boulevard entrance.
During the festival, City of Savannah docks within the control zone are reserved solely for emergency marine vessels.
Police will close streets within and surrounding City Market as early as Wednesday. Jefferson Street will remain closed throughout the festival. Also, on Wednesday at 4 p.m. River Street will close and remain closed to all vehicular traffic for the duration of the festival.
Pets are prohibited from the festival area, with the exception of service animals or pets of residents who live within the control zone. Also prohibited are:
coolers
exotic animals
skates and skate boards
bicycles
sparklers
bank snaps
smoke bombs
Any items that could be dangerous or disruptive.
Many of Savannah’s Downtown parking garages will remain open 24 hours per day during the festival. Detailed garage schedules are available on the City of Savannah’s Web site, www.savannahga.gov. Patrons may experience disruptions in garage access during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Savannah River ferries will be in operation from 7 a.m. until midnight during the festival and will only run from docks at the Waving Girl statue to Trade Center. Each day free Chatham Area Transit (CAT) buses also will run from Indian Street and from Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the Trade Center parking lot from 12 noon-1 a.m. All other traffic on Indian Street will be discontinued during the three-day festival.
Police will have no option but to tow vehicles parked in the staging area of the parade and along the parade route starting at 6 a.m. on Thursday. The staging area runs from Henry to Gaston between Whitaker and Habersham streets.
Vehicles parked along the route will be towed. Vehicles parked illegally in adjoining areas will be ticketed and towed if blocking emergency vehicle access. Documents needed for retrieval of vehicles towed on parade day will be available at SCMPD Headquarters, at 201 Habersham St. until 4 a.m. Friday.
The parade itself will travel north on Abercorn Street to Broughton Street, east on Broughton Street to East Broad Street; Bay Street from Broad to Bull Street; and Bull from Bay until it disbands at Madison Square at Bull and Harris streets. Traffic along most of the parade route will be closed at 8 a.m. and at 9:30 a.m. on Bay Street.
Metro Police remind the public that all squares along the parade route will be closed to the public from midnight Wednesday until 6 a.m. Thursday.
Portable restrooms will be placed in the area for patrons. Urination outside the legitimate restroom areas will lead to criminal charges.
For access to SCMPD’s real-time traffic updates and much more, visitwww.scmpd.org/stpatsfestival.
The 2016 River Street St. Patrick’s Day Celebration is hosted by the Savannah Waterfront Association and proudly sponsored by: Bud Light, Budweiser, Savannah Coca-Cola, Yancey Bros., Yancey Bros. CAT Rentals, Capital A Productions, Wet Willie’s, Creative Approach, and Alpha Media.
