The skies may have been a bit gray Saturday, but Five Points was nothing but green, as thousands of people turned out — and up — for St. Patrick’s Day.
Partygoers decked out in green hats, beads and boots packed the streets and queued up to get into the bars to celebrate the Irish for the 32nd annual St. Pat’s in Five Points. Lines stretched out of the doors, onto the sidewalks and into the streets, which had been blocked off for the festivities.
Rows of green portable restrooms yielded lines comparable to those of the bars, and vendors peddling corn dogs, gyros and street meats drew their fair share of crowds as well.
The festivities started off at 7:30 a.m. with the Get to the Green 10K, 5K and Family Fun 1-Miler races. Festival gates opened at 9 a.m., and the parade kicked off an hour later. Four stages were set up to host more than 15 musical acts throughout the day, and the water in every fountain in Five Points was dyed green for the occasion.
But for those providing for the festival guests, there was no time to watch the parade, go to the concerts or even sit for a moment to take it all in.
This year was Troy Davis’ first St. Patrick’s day in Five Points as manager of Sharky’s, and he said planning for the day was nothing short of a headache.
“I basically had to get enough alcohol for a whole month for one day,” he said. “The orders were ridiculous.”
In an average week, Davis said he shells out around $5,000 for alcohol to provide for his customers. But for St. Patrick’s Day, he spent around $15,000 on liquor and another $15,000 on beer, totaling out to $30,000 for just one Saturday.
Davis’ staff was working around the clock between serving the usual Friday night crowds and keeping up with the masses of people Saturday, not to mention gearing up for Saturday night’s clientele.
“Since we were open last night, they probably only got around four hours [of] sleep before they had to come back this morning,” he said. “My staff is pretty much running on [empty].”
Ryan Kay, the owner of Pinch, also worked a long day. After 20 hours of serving customers, he spent Sunday catching up on the sleep he missed out on during the festival.
But unlike Davis, Kay is a St. Pat’s in Five Points veteran, with three years under his belt.
“At this point, I’m kind of prepared for it, or at least have a general idea of what’s going to happen.”
Kay said he spent around $10,000 on alcohol for Saturday, triple what he spends in an average week. Plus, he had to bring in outside hires, including extra security guards and barbacks, to keep up with the masses. At any given time on Saturday, there were between 10 and 12 people working at Pinch, compared to the usual five.
Pink bands declaring the wearers were 21 years old could be seen dangling from the wrists of many, as shots were sold on the streets and beers were handed out of trucks and across counters.
With the thousands of people packed into just a few streets and alcohol available around every corner, the day was not without incidents; according to Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday, there were 59 charges against 39 people.
No major incidents were reported, and most of the charges were for drunkenness, public disorderly conduct and possession of alcohol by those under 21 years old, Timmons said.