Sláinte! St Patrick's day is upon us! The day of the year where everyone wears green top hats, drinks bright green drinks and clings desperately to any Irish connection they may have somewhere in their family tree. For me, it's my grandparents - my Irish friends don't love my tenuous connection, but when it comes to St Patrick's Day, everyone and their dog are somehow slightly Irish. However, this year it may be more difficult to convince the Irish of my connection as Ireland and England are facing off in the Six Nations rugby tournament - if Ireland wins, they win the ‘Grand Slam’. Although I'm English, I am disappointingly unaware of the rules of rugby, but it promises to be an exhilarating game!

St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and seemingly the patron saint of partying as well. Traditionally, the day is to celebrate the heritage and culture of the Irish, and this can be seen by some of the events which are being put on in the city.

Irish food at The Cabin

The Cabin is an Irish owned pub on the Gedempte Zuiderdiep, and they're going all out on St Patrick's Day! They're serving up an all-day Irish Breakfast, Irish Stew from 15.00, and bacon, sausage and egg butties (sandwiches to the common Joe) all day long. The Cabin is one of my favourite bars in Groningen because it really does feel like a proper pub from back home which is something I really miss

Go to an Irish pub: O'Malleys & O'Calleighs

Irish pubs in Groningen are obviously go to places to be on St Patrick's Day, and O'Malley's will definitely be showing the rugby, as well as having live music. Both pubs will be packed full of people singing and dancing to Irish music, and covered from head to toe in green. Definitely great places to be on St Patrick's Day, with plenty of green food colouring in drinks to get everyone in the celebratory mood!

St. Patrick’s Day with ESN

Another possibility for a memorable St Patrick's Day is to head along to the Drie Gezusters to watch the rugby and enjoy the festivities with ESN Groningen! Bound to be a great afternoon and evening with lots of international students descending upon the Drie! I spent last St Patrick’s Day at an ESN event and managed to convince people that I was Irish (despite my extremely stereotypical English accent), and fake Irish danced all night long! Was an amazing night!

If you aren't into the whole get up and green thing, then there is still plenty of other stuff to do in the city of that weekend! There are some interesting documentaries on at the DOT; Block and Barrels have their 1 year anniversary and is having a bluegrass band; and there's an interior decorating and furniture expo on at the Martiniplaza, so all you hipsters out there can adorn your Instagram pages with pictures of succulents and fairy lights. Lastly, the 17th March is also the Nacht van Groningen, so the fit girls and guys amongst us can run up to a half marathon through the city for charity!  

But if you are - grab your green face paint, your leprechaun inspired top hat, and any item of green clothing you may possibly own and paint the town green. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!