COLUMBIA — Two months out from one of the biggest St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the Southeast, St. Pat's in Five Points announced the largest musical artist lineup in the annual festival's 42-year history.
The headliners for the 2024 festival on March 16 are: eight-piece soul-pop fusion band Lawrence, blues rock husband-and-wife duo The War and Treaty, Georgia-based indie rock band Futurebirds, country rock band Sister Hazel out of Florida and Nashville's own country singer-songwriter Conner Smith.
"This lineup ... I called it funky the other day," said Master Splnta, the Columbia-based rapper and activist formerly known as FatRat Da Czar. "It's eclectic, though."
Along with the headliners, the festival's slate includes 17 other bands and genre-bending artists.
Some are local, like Columbia-based punk rock band Brandy and the Butcher, Columbia and Charleston's indie pop-rock group Homemade Haircuts or South Carolina native country singer Shelby Raye. Some come from around the Southeast, like indie and "headbanging" rock band The Stews who formed at Auburn University, brass funk rock band Empire Strikes Brass out of Asheville or Happy Landing, the indie-punk-bluegrass-folk hybrid act that formed at the University of Mississippi.
Some of the acts have also played stages across the country, like the reggae group The Original Wailers — featuring Al Anderson from Bob Marley and the Wailers — or Paul Russell, a Los Angeles-based rapper and singer whose 2023 single "Lil Boo Thang" went viral on social media and peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Silent disco at St. Pat’s in Five Points 2019. File/John Carlos II/Special to The Free Times, Post and Courier Columbia
"Over 45,000 people descend on this wonderful hospitality district in March, and they come and they spend over $12.5 million," Columbia City Councilman Will Brennan said during the festival announcement on Jan. 16. "We are so proud that families, students, seniors — everybody comes here and has fun in this wonderful hospitality district."
Bars around Five Points will also feature live performances on March 16. Folks can catch Master Splnta and the Soda City Brass Band by the traditionally dyed-green fountain in the center of the district, while Breakers Live will feature The Regulars and Jake's on Devine will feature bands Droze and Goodnight Lizzy. O'Hara's House Band will keep the tunes flowing at Logan's Irish Pub Pop-up, while New Brookland Tavern and Electric Alleyway will each house lineups of around 10 bands and artists.
More than 40 acts are expected to perform at the festival, making it the largest lineup since it began, according to Five Points Association executive director Heather McDonald.
Five Points Association president and local business owner Stephanie Bailey credited the festival and its size with helping the neighborhood association jumpstart beautification efforts in the district, as well as give about $1.2 million to charitable causes across the Midlands.
"It's a longstanding tradition in our community that we're very proud of," Bailey said. "It's more than just a chance to celebrate with friends. It's an experience, it's family-friendly and it's nostalgia for this community."
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