St. Patrick's Day weekend is an exciting time in the Charlotte area. For some reason on the weekend of Saturday, March 13th, at any given time you will see more Charloteans claiming to be Irish than you ever thought possible. There are a number of activities taking place during this weekend so you better make sure to know your options.

The St. Patrick's Day Parade will be celebrating its 14th year in Uptown Charlotte. Last year more than 50,000 spectators joined in the fun. Like every other year you can expect to hear pipes piping and floats floating as many observers cheer in celebration of the day. This is a non-profit event and free to the public. Participating in the parade will be plenty of schools, international organizations, businesses and other groups that decide they want to join in on the fun. The start of the parade is at Tryon and 9th street in Uptown Charlotte. At 11:00 AM the march will begin and will go all the way to Tryon and 3rd St. So come one, come all, and make sure to bring something Irish with you! (At the very least you can dig through your closet and find a presentable green shirt). More information can be found here at www.charlottestpatsday.com.

Ever wanted to break a world record? Well Rich & Bennett's 10th Annual St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl is your chance! Come on and come all for the crawl's 10th year. This event is known as the world's largest crawl and has continued to grow every year since it began. Last year alone 5,000 crawlers visited over 20 bars in Uptown Charlotte. The event was featured last year on the Travel Channel series Extreme Wild Parties. The crawl begins at 1:00 PM on Saturday March 13 and doesn't stop until 10:00 PM that evening. All you need is to sign up beforehand or the day of and make sure to wear your special St Patty's Day crawling T-Shirt. More information can be found at www.rockhouseevents.com/stpatricksdaypubcrawl.

Aside from these two events, many local establishments will be throwing their own celebration for the day. And in the event you still need an excuse to get out of the house, expect plenty of college basketball to watch as we slowly but surely approach March Madness. So get out, socialize, and hope the rain decides to stay away this year!