How will you celebrate St. Paddy's Day? How about with some Irish fun in downtown Grand Rapids! Check out Irish on Ionia is this Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The celebration includes a Kegs and Eggs breakfast, live music, an Irish-inspired food court, Irish entertainment, and, of course, beer!
Tickets are selling quickly and it's recommended that you purchase them in advance! Roughly twenty thousand people are expected to join the festivities. The 2014 celebration will see greater attendance, a larger city block, an additional music stage, a second Leprechaun, and doubled heated tents.
Here are a few tips:
Buy your tickets here. You can choose from a $15 general admission ticket or a $25 O'Malley ticket providing admission, T-shirt, and a McFadden's buffet food voucher. If you're the type of person who hates to wait in line, you should buy a VIP (Very Irish Person) pass. The $55 pass includes unlimited entry/re-entry with no wait, an Irish on Ionia mug, and a T-shirt.
You'll want to arrive early: The first 300 people in line will receive a free Irish on Ionia mug that allows you to get approximately fifty percent more beer for the same price each time you refill it. And you get to keep the mug as a souvenir when you leave.
There are only two entrances—one on the corner of Fulton and Ionia, and one on the corner of Oakes and Ionia. The Oakes/Ionia entrance is opens at 7 a.m. and the Fulton/Ionia entrance opens at 10 a.m.
 Take the map with you. This year the festival layout is expanded by a block. |
