GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — St. Patrick's Day is on a Friday this year, meaning for many, it's going to be a whole weekend of celebrating.
St. Brendan's Inn in Green Bay is one place people are finding fun, and luck, at.
"Madness," Kelsie Basten, the inn's manager, said. "It's just a constant traffic of people in and out of the bar and the dining room."
Basten said St. Patrick's Day is a big event for the hotel and Irish pub every year, with activities from a live music tent, to a fundraiser for childhood cancer and marching in Saturday's parade downtown.
"We started our day with some bagpipers...and the blessing of our shamrock plant," she said.
Jesse Batal said he and his friends had been out since 6:30 a.m. on Friday, and he'd been looking forward to the holiday.
"We come here every year," Batal, a Green Bay resident, said.
Basten said like Batal, she sees a lot of the same people come year after year.
"A lot of families come in together," Basten said. "If they have Irish heritage, a lot of them will have their clan on their shirt or their names on their shirts."
She added that people usually order the corned beef and cabbage, or this year the fish and chips because the holiday falls on a Friday.
However, with this fun could come a cost this weekend for anyone driving drunk.
Commander Kevin Warych with the Green Bay Police Department reminds drivers not to get behind the wheel if they've been drinking.
"We want to remind the community to make sure that you have a plan," Warych said. "Use a safe ride, a SafeRide program...take a cab...whatever it may be."
He said there will be more officers out this weekend stopping and looking for traffic violations and impaired drivers
"We want people to enjoy St. Patrick's Day, but we want them to do that safely," Warych said.
To locate your nearest ride provider with The Tavern League of Wisconsin's SafeRide program, click here. To download the mobile app, click here.
AAA is also offering their Tow to go program as a last resort. It is a free service for AAA members and non-members, and more information can be found here.
