Bemidji Gearing Up for Annual St. Patrick’s Day Events

The white snow is all but gone, and that means the season of green is drawing near. Monday is St. Patrick’s Day, and there are events being held in Bemidji throughout the holiday weekend to celebrate.

On Saturday, March 15th, Bemidji Parks and Recreation is holding its annual Shamrock Shuffle 5K and 10K races. Both start at the Sanford Center, and the public can participate in person or virtually. Prizes will be awarded to the overall top finishers.

“After the race, there’s this breakfast that we host, so people get to have breakfast, sit down, kind of wait for everybody to get back, and then we do awards,” said Jamie Anderson, Bemidji Parks and Recreation Supervisor. “We have medals, we’ve got Park[s] and Rec swag, we’ve got shirts left over from several years ago, so you can wear green and just have a great time.”

On St. Patrick’s Day itself comes another annual tradition, the self-proclaimed World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It runs in downtown Bemidji from Brigid’s Pub to Keg N’ Cork and takes only 78 paces to complete.

“We don’t take it too seriously,” said Keg N’ Cork owner Tyler Winka. “We do the Hokey Pokey, we do the Chicken Dance, hula hoop contest. It’s made to have – not taking yourself too seriously, just having a good time out for the quick little half hour out there, if that. It’s a great community event and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Registration for the Shamrock Shuffle starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Sanford Center with the races kicking off at 10 a.m. The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade starts at 5 p.m. Monday in downtown Bemidji at Brigid’s Pub.