There’ll be no driving out of snakes (they’re all up in Clemson) this St. Patrick’s Day, but the annual St. Pat’s in Five Points festival committee has more than a few things up their sleeves ahead of Columbia’s most popular street festival.
Top o’ the list? Bringing a bit more authentic Irish flair to the 41-year-old festival, according to Heather McDonald, executive director of the Five Points Association, the merchants group that puts on the daylong race, parade and music extravaganza.
“We needed some more Irish love inside the festival footprint,” said McDonald, who claims Scottish-Irish ancestry.
That will include an inflatable Irish pub — no, it’s not a bounce house — that will serve as an anchor for the 2024 festival’s Food Truck Alley along Devine Street.
The pop-up pub, the expansion of food offerings and few other new attractions are all part of the festival committee’s mission to open up the festival to revelers of all ages, including families.
For decades, the festival has drawn thousands of young partygoers with its slate of popular bands and walking distance to University of South Carolina’s on- and off-campus student housing hubs.
Part of being more inclusive means bringing in Five Points merchants, many of whom close up shop during the festival to avoid drunken youths, disorderly crowds and, sometimes, violence. But McDonald said new efforts — like a street fair for Columbia merchants and artists on Saluda Avenue — are steps in the right direction.
“(We’re) trying to build on some more community partnerships,” she said. “I think that’s something that we will continue to do.”
Changes and additions are good, but let’s get down to brass tacks. Keep reading for a full guide to the 2024 St. Pat’s in Five Points Festival:
Live Music lineup for St. Pat’s
Like every St. Pat’s festival, this year’s lineup of live music is the anchor attraction.
Featuring national acts like the indie sibling duo Lawrence, the Nashville gospel-country War and Treaty, and 1990s rockers Sister Hazel top the slate of bands playing on the festival’s four stages.
The stages are set up at the outer edges of the Five Points district’s titular streets, and music booker Trae Judy said each stage has its own vibe.
“The festival has really turned into kind of a multigenre, multistage kind of dynamic,” said Judy, a longtime S.C. event and music booker who once owned The Music Farm (now The Senate) and White Mule in Greenville.
On Saluda Avenue, a “country/Americana vibe” takes center stage. War and Treaty, a husband-and-wife duo out of Nashville, will headline a slate of performers that includes Zach Top — a George Strait-esque crooner Judy imagines will be selling out arenas in a few years — and singer-songwriter Conner Smith.
The lineup for St. Pat’s in Five Points’ 2024 music slate.
The Greene Street stage will feature mainstream favorites like Futurebirds, an Athens-based indie rock outfit known for its “psychedelic country” sound.
Head on over to Harden Street, where the Blossom Stage will feature acts for a younger crowd, Judy said. Columbia band Homemade Haircuts will kick off the stage’s lineup at 11 a.m., which will cap off with a 6 p.m. set from Lawrence .
On Santee, the “nostalgia stage” will feature rockers and favorites from years’ past. Sister Hazel will take the stage at 5:15 p.m.
More music can be seen at the fountain, where local emcee MC Masta Splinta (formerly known as Fat Rat da Czar) will spin nostalgic beats like Prince and Michael Jackson for a family-friendly hub in the district’s epicenter.
With staggered set times and a wide variety of acts, Judy hopes festivalgoers will expose themselves to new bands and new genres.
“Being able to put a reggae band with a rock band, and then have a true country stage this year is really exciting,” Judy said.
A few businesses will host live music, too, with an emphasis on local and regional acts. New Brookland Tavern, Jake’s Bar and Grill, Breaker’s Live and Group Therapy all have a full days worth of bands to check out.
What’s new? Mocktail lounge, skateboarding on a half-pipe, Irish pop-up pub
With 45,000 people flooding the streets of Five Points each year, it can be easy to get complacent. But the festival committee has worked to add several new attractions this year.
First up is The Saint, a pop-up, zero-proof cocktail lounge. Spearheaded by local events organization Cola Love, The Saint will feature no-alcohol cocktails from a host of local restaurants like Kao Thai.
McDonald said the idea came to her after noticing the trends around drinking culture, particularly the move to a sober-conscious, or “sober curious,” lifestyle.
“There’s people who are dabbling with sobriety, and there’s people who are sober ... it also offers an opportunity for a designated driver — which we encourage for the day of the festival,” McDonald said. “And also, if you just want to take a break during the middle of the day and maybe not have an alcoholic beverage.”
Another new attraction will be at the corner of Harden and College streets — a halfpipe skateboarding ramp.
Run by a Florida company, the Bluetile Skate Shop-sponsored ramp will feature demonstrations, coaching and contests with cash prizes, Judy said.
37th annual St. Pat’s in Five Points, on March 17, 2019.
And, the pop-up pub, Logan’s Irish Pub, will set up at the corner of Devine Street near Men’s Warehouse. Along with the Black Stuff (Guinness) and traditional Irish decor, the pub will have food offerings from O’Hara’s Public House in Lexington, which will also bring its trad band to perform in the pub and around the festival.
“(We’re) just trying to create some cool, interactive, engaging activities,” Judy said of the attractions. “So you come out, you can listen to some music, you can get food, you can skateboard, you can get your face painted.”
St. Pat’s 5k, 10k and parade
There’s not much changing with this year’s St. Pat’s 5k and 10k races, Get to the Green Road Races, which kick off the day of festivities at 7 a.m.
The racecourse weaves through Five Points and its adjacent neighborhoods. Runners will get new medals and T-shirt designs this year, McDonald said. And, race signup gets you a ticket to the festival.
At 10 a.m., the St. Pat’s parade will change course slightly this year, coming down Devine Street into Five Points before taking a right on Harden Street, McDonald said. The parade is free to attend along Devine, outside of the festival’s bounds, and it brought thousands of people out last year.
Food & drink offerings at St. Pat’s
We’ve already told you about the food truck alley on Devine Street, but that’s not the only spot festivalgoers can pick up grub during the festival.
McDonald said a host of Five Points businesses will be open and selling food — and some, like Bar None and brunch chain Ruby Sunshine, will also be selling VIP tickets for folks wanting a quiet place away from the crowds.
The VIP lounge at Saluda’s will be up and running, but McDonald said the restaurant’s space makes it an exclusive ticket with the limited space.
Enter: the Lucky Leprechaun, a new-ish VIP area in the parking lot next to the fountain that includes food and beverages, air-conditioned bathrooms and places to sit, all in the thick of the festival.
Folks who buy a ticket to Lucky Leprechaun will also have VIP areas at each stage, offering a close-up but uncrowded view of the bands.
Family-Friendly attractions
True to the festival committee’s promise to make St. Pat’s a family event, McDonald said the children’s play area will move to the parking lot of Andy’s Deli on Greene Street, where activities, music and food will be on-hand for kiddos and their parents.
The Pot O’ Gold Playland is for kids 12 and under (who also get in free) and will be accessible by the Greene Street festival entrance. McDonald said parents will have their own check-in lane and will be given readmittance bracelets — the only type that allow festivalgoers to leave and come back.
The essentials: St. Pat’s bag & water bottle policy, bathrooms & rideshare pickups
This Free Times writer recommends taking a rideshare (Uber or Lyft) to avoid hefty parking fees, long walks and the potential for legal trouble. A rideshare pickup area will be on Devine Street across from Jake’s Bar and Grill right near a festival entrance.
VIP and handicap parking will be available on Blossom Street near Truist Bank.
A ticket gets you into the festival, but McDonald warned that once you leave, you’re not getting back in (unless you’re a parent with a special ticket type). Tickets start at $25 and go up to $200 a person.
The festival has a clear bag policy. Anything else will be turned away at the gates.
Once inside, an information tent will be set up at Devine and Harden streets, near Lucky’s Bar. Bathrooms (porta-potties) will be set up along the festival routes, and the VIP areas will have separate, air-conditioned restrooms.
And new this year are the hydration stations, McDonald said. Festivalgoers will be allowed one empty water bottle when they enter, and the hydration stations are dotted throughout the festival for easy refueling.
