TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The River O’ Inexperienced Competition took over downtown Tampa on Saturday.
Hundreds of individuals got here out, sporting their inexperienced to come back rejoice for St. Patrick’s Day weekend. From Irish dancers to completely different infused Irish coffees and treats, and even pet costumes, everybody acquired their shamrock shake on.
The Hillsborough River is sporting a unique shade for the vacation, it seems to be like a four-leaf clover.
“My favourite half is true once we kick off and also you see the river go inexperienced. It is magical,” stated Shaun Drinkard, Senior Vice President of Operations for the Tampa Downtown Partnership.
It’s a day crammed with all the pieces Irish.
“We have now stay music; we’ve Irish Buskers, which is an area, Irish band; Patty O’ Furnishings, one other native Irish band; we’ve the Finnigan Dance Academy doing conventional Irish dancing; we even have a standard, Celtic bagpiper to kick off the coloring of the river,” stated Ivy Lupco, Supervisor of Public Area Placemaking & Programming for the Tampa Downtown Partnership.
It’s an occasion hundreds of individuals can take pleasure in with household, buddies, and their pets.
“It is a complete downtown expertise, come down right here within the morning with your loved ones and buddies, park, spend the entire day right here. Lots to see, cease by the companies, the cultural establishments, you can also make a complete day of it,” Drinkard stated.
It’s an occasion organizers spend months planning for.
“Truthfully, in full transparency, as soon as this closes out, we begin excited about subsequent yr. It is engrained in us; it is part of our life. We consider new parts all year long, and it takes a number of months of planning,” Lupco stated.
“Anytime you have got the chance to create an iconic signature occasion in the course of downtown, and also you see households and buddies come right here yr after yr, and it is a custom. When that custom is ready, it is simply superb to look at everybody take pleasure in their metropolis,” Drinkard stated.
It’s an occasion these in Tampa thank their fortunate charms occurs within the space.
“Main cities everywhere in the nation, this can be a nice vacation to convey communities collectively, have an important celebration,” Drinkard stated.
