This Sunday is St Patrick’s Day, and pretty much everywhere in Peterborough that can serve alcohol is having some kind of party. With live music, club nights, dances, and parties going on all over this city, there should be something out there for everyone – and it’s almost all local! Electric City Live has your guide to all the St Patrick’s Day weekend parties in Peterborough – and keep checking back as we get closer to the day, since we’ll be updating our events as more information comes in!

Also, since St Patrick’s Day is on a Sunday this year, lots of places are hosting parties Saturday night instead – or on both nights! So this guide lists all the events on both Saturday and Sunday, so that you can portion out your partying – or go all damn weekend!

The St Patrick’s Day Parade takes place on Sunday from 2 PM to 4 PM. The parade starts at City Hall and travels along George Street to Morrow Park, where it ends. The official parade after-party is at ARIA (see details below), and the unofficial party continues all day, all around downtown.

For any venues, bars, or anyone else hosting a party: if your event isn’t included, let us know via email, Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below, and we’ll add it in!



ARIA

Saturday

No special events tonight.

Sunday

ARIA is the official pub sponsor of the St Patrick’s Day parade and promises to have “the biggest St Patrick’s Day party in Peterborough.” The parade runs from 2 PM to 4 PM, and after that, ARIA transforms into a “giant indoor beer garden” (though to me, that just sounds like what a bar always is). From 4 PM to 8 PM, there will be live music (no specifics on who as of yet), and after that, from 8 PM to close, there will be DJ and dancing. There will also be Irish stew. Cover is free the whole day. more info

Black Horse Pub

Saturday

Just a regular Saturday at the Black Horse. At 5:00 PM, catch local classic rock cover band Rick & Gailie (official site, Facebook), followed by Off the Wall at 9:30 PM.

Sunday

From 1 PM to 5PM, there will be a fundraiser at the Black Horse for Junior Achievement Peterborough, featuring prizes, a 50/50 prize draw, and, of course, green beer. more info For live music, catch Washboard Hank and the Killarney Honkers (CBC, Facebook) at 3:30 PM. Hank is a local legend and a hell of a entertaining performer. Later on, at 9:00 PM, Rick & Gailie (official site, Facebook) will be taking the stage.

The Junction

Saturday

No special events tonight.

S unday

The Junction is holding a St Patty’s Mega Party, which means they’ll be spinning a mix of Celtic music, Top 40s, country, and ’90s music (so Junction + a bit of Celtic). DJ Bill Porter from Energy 99.7 will be on hand. Doors open at 10 PM, and there’s no cover. more info

The Montreal House

Saturday

Tonight, the Moho hosts Bad To The Bone (official site, Facebook), North America’s “one and only” George Thorogood tribute act. (Can you believe there’s only one?!) At the show, I would recommend ordering one bourbon, one beer, and one scotch – but not necessarily in that order. Tickets are $5 in advance, $10 at the door. more info

Sunday

For St Patrick’s Day, the Moho is having a full day of music on two stages, and it’s all local bands. On the outside stage, starting at noon, catch classic rock and country cover band 3SUM (official site, Facebook), followed by rock singer-songwriter Lindsay Barr (official site, Facebook). Inside, also starting at noon and going until 3 AM, performers include: country and rock band Black Fly Band, country singer-songwriter Jesse Slack (official site, Facebook), and classic rock band High Waters Band (official site, Facebook). more info

Pig’s Ear Tavern

Saturday

From 2 PM to 5 PM, there will be Blues Jam at the Pig’s Ear hosted by the Victory Boys. Then later on, local alt-country group Mayhemingways (official site, Facebook) is playing a St Patrick’s Day Eve show. The band features two former members of the now-defunct country band The Avenues, drummer Josh Fewings and guitar/banjo player Benj Rowland, as well as Bryar Grrey on lead guitar and ‘Diamond’ Dave Russell on stand-up bass. more info

Sunday

For a special St Pat’s treat, the Pig is open this Sunday from noon onwards. At 9 PM, there will be some live music courtesy Washboard Hank and the Killarney Honkers (CBC, Facebook). This is, notably, Hank’s second performance of the day after an earlier set at the Black Horse, and this is the Pig’s Ear, and it is St Patrick’s Day, so be prepared for things to get rather messy. Cover for the evening is $4. more info

Red Dog Tavern

Saturday

Local rock band New Nobles (official site, Facebook) play their first show in town in over a year, after some personnel changes and some time spent writing new material. Also on the bill: Barrie power-pop band For The Birds (ReverbNation, Facebook) and local experimental folk group Parsons Man (ReverbNation, Facebook). Local singer-songwriter John von Atzigen is opening. Show starts at 9:30 PM. Tickets are $5 and available at the door. more info

Sunday

The Red Dog’s St Patrick’s Day Spectacular features music from 11:30 AM right to close (and food from 11 to 5). It’s a great line-up of local performers, including: ’80s cover band MIA a.k.a. Misfits In Action (official site, Facebook), rock singer-songwriter Lindsay Barr (official site, Facebook), folk-roots group Grainne Ryan and The Sons Of Birches (official site, Facebook), rockabilly trio The Lohrwoods (Reverbnation, Facebook), some members of rock band The Detourists (Myspace, Facebook), classic rock cover band Rick & Gailie (official site, Facebook), Chris Collins, and singer-songwriter Terry Guiel. more info

Riley’s

Saturday

Catch Riley’s regular weekend performer, Josh Gontier (ReverbNation), who plays a mix of rock covers and originals.

Sunday

Live entertainment for the day starts at 1 PM. Local musicians Josh Gontier (ReverbNation), Cale Gontier (official site, Facebook), and Travis Berlenbach (official site, Facebook) will all be performing. There will be green beer, and beer-related giveaways.

Red Garnet

Saturday

A great show at the Garnet tonight, featuring Toronto ‘psychedelic country’ band The Highest Order (official site, Facebook) – which is a side project of several members of the band One Hundred Dollars. Joining them will be Peterborough country singer-songwriter Nick Ferrio (official site, Facebook) (doing a solo set, sans His Feelings), and a new local band, The Losing Hand, featuring several members of Nick Ferrio & His Feelings. more info

Sunday

The Red Garnet avoids the St Pat’s rush, and hosts their regular Sunday night open mic tonight. more info

The Spill

Saturday

For St Pat’s, The Spill does what The Spill is best at: cramming as many rock bands onto that tiny stage as will possibly fit, and then shoving a bunch more on there too. Starting at 5 PM and going until close, catch nine great performers, most of them local. The line-up is: singer-songwriter CL McEachern (Bandcamp, Facebook), Lindsay rock band The DGB (official site, Facebook), The Don’ters (a tribute to local band Them Blades — or maybe just Them Blades’ new name), 100 Year Champions, rock’nroll band Radio Mama (ReverbNation, Facebook), garage rock band Watershed Hour (Bandcamp, Facebook), country-rocker G.T. Harris (Myspace, Facebook), blues-rock band No Pussyfooting (Reverbnation, Facebook), and local rockabilly trio The Lohrwoods (Reverbnation, Facebook). more info

Sunday

No special events tonight.

Sin City/Tank House Pub

Saturday

No special events tonight.

Sunday

Festivities start at 11 AM in The Tank House, with classic Irish tunes from Graham Norman, followed by local blues-rock band and frequent performers at Dobro The Cadillacs (Facebook).

In the evening, the party moves over to Sin City, open from 7 PM until 2 AM. more info

Spanky’s

Saturday

No special events tonight.



Sunday

Spanky’s is setting up a tent in their back parking lot and having a (heated) outdoor party. There will be live music courtesy a pair of great local bands: garage rockers The Charming Ruins (official site, Facebook) and the hard-rocking The Daisy Gang a.k.a. The Lumbermen (Bandcamp, Facebook). DJ Jonny Trash (official site) will also be on hand (as will some ‘friends’), and there will be dancing. The party starts early, at 11 AM and goes til close. more info



The Venue

Saturday

No special events tonight.

Sunday

At 11:30 AM, The Venue opens up for the St Patrick’s Day Slog, a full day of live music in the lobby wine bar, featuring a number of great local performers, including: singer-songwriter Chris Collins, rockabilly trio The Lohrwoods (Reverbnation, Facebook), classic rock cover band Rick & Gailie (official site, Facebook), country band Western Avenue (Facebook), and apparently more, yet to be announced. This event is free. more info

Then, at 10 PM, the club opens up for a full night of green drinks and Celtic music (mixed in with the standard Top 40s and club mix), courtesy DJ Couture (official site, Facebook) and DJ Alco-Holek (Soundcloud, Facebook), the “master of celtic and country music.” Wear green, white, or orange for your chance to win prizes. Cover is free before 11:00 PM, $5 after. Tickets available for purchase via Ticketscene. more info

This page will be updated throughout the week as more info comes in, so keep checking back! Take a look at our weekly listing for the rest of this week’s shows.

Clover photo by roens, via Flickr. No Pussyfooting photo by Scott Dancey. All other images courtesy the respective artists and venues.