Green Day 

Ah, St. Patrick's Day! On any other day in Humboldt County, publicly displaying "the green" could lead to getting pinched -- either by authorities or jonesin' acquaintances. This Thursday, the opposite is true. Go greenless; face the consequences.

St. Patty's is also the one day a year where any given establishment will inevitably trot out the obligatory holiday dish. That's right, HumCo. corned beef and cabbage will be plentiful and available. Where? The following are just a few of the venues going out of their way for your green day business:

The most ambitious St. Patty Party in the county will likely be the 7th annual anniversary blowout at Six Rivers Brewery in McKinleyville. The all day festivities will feature live music on two stages from the likes of Seabury Gould (the only one who routinely does Celtic), The Grass Band, Speakeasy Saints and The Strangled Darlings. DJ Jdub fills in the gaps. Those attending may wonder if their beer is supposed to have that greenish tint. It is.

The Westhaven Center for the Arts is calling upon residents to "Wear Green and Celebrate" for a $15 night that features the aforementioned traditional, corny Irish cuisine as well as music and dancing with The Pilot Rock Ramblers. Now we know that corned beef doesn't necessarily tempt every palette. With that in mind, the WCA will serve you up just the musical portion of the night for $5. That's called "compromise."

The corned beef and wine will be flowin' at Robert Goodman's Tasting Room in Arcata for a night that also features music in the vein of that venue's frequent Irish Sessions nights. The evening also serves as a fundraiser for that "green" establishment, the Arcata Recycling Center.  More wine and beer sipping at Libation, where Kathe Lyth provides green tunes on the Celtic harp. 

Oh yeah, and of course, the bars are open. Gallagher's Irish Pub in Eureka, as is the case every year, will feature traditional Irish dancing by the Emerald Coast Irish Dancers and Celtic music by Good Company, while the Logger Bar in Blue Lake plays host to the "hardcore folk" of The Vanishing Pints (think Pogues). And then there's the Arcata Plaza: St. Patrick's Day happens to fall during HSU's spring break this year. So while that means plenty of students have migrated to warmer climates, the ones that stuck it out in Humboldt have no classes on Friday. For better or worse, be warned.