Palatine gears up for St. Patrick's fest

Palatine will turn on the Irish charm Saturday, and give the Northwest suburbs its first St. Patrick's Day parade since Hoffman Estates ended its tradition a couple of years after the death of Mayor Mike O'Malley.

The parade kicks off a daylong festival in and around downtown Palatine and the local businesses.

The parade may not be on the scale as its downtown Chicago and South Side counterparts, but spectators will be entertained by 39 entries and more than 500 participants, including the Chicago Slaughter indoor football dance team, the McNulty Irish Dancers and the Little Leprechauns of Dorset Avenue.

“Anything we can do to expose people to what we've got going in Palatine is a good thing,” Mayor Jim Schwantz said. “And if it's successful, we'd love this to be an annual event.”

The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. at 200 E. Wood St., continues west to Benton, north to Colfax, west to Brockway, south on Wood Street and ends at the train station.

Afterward at noon, Schwantz will lead a “firkin tapping” ceremony by driving a spigot into a wooden keg at Emmett's Ale House, 110 N. Brockway St.

For shopping and entertainment, Paint the Town Green will feature an Irish Market from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the train station. Twelve vendors will be on hand, in addition to several musicians and the Trinity Irish Dancers teaching Irish dance.

Event coordinator Liz Noe of ElizEvents, who last year got village approval to put on the privately funded festival, said people will collect food, clothing and disposable paper products to support the homeless and near-homeless through Journeys from PADS to HOPE.