Attendees flood the streets of Tipp Hill for Green Beer Sunday
Green Beer Sunday floods Tipp Hill neighborhood
This year’s green festivities were met with long lines and enthusiastic drinkers.
Thousands of attendees showed out for this year’s Green Beer Sunday on Feb. 25 at Tipperary Hill, flooding the blocks surrounding Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub. Thanks to green beverages, the warm atmosphere and sunny weather, participants didn’t mind being patient.
The festivities kicked off with a two-block parade featuring local dancers, music and the green beer truck. Upon completion of the parade, grand marshal Charlie Miller, a syracuse.com journalist and SU adjunct professor, poured the first cup of green beer to mark the event’s start. Miller has covered the event in the past.
From the top of the truck, t-shirts and other St. Patrick’s day-themed accessories were launched from t-shirt cannons. Party band Mere Mortals took the pub stage at 3:00 p.m. and performed songs including “Life is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts.
Coleen and Wayne Nicholson, married bagpipe players who opened the event, have attended Green Beer Sunday for 14 consecutive years. The parade is “a rite of passage for Syracuse,” according to Coleen. “It’s the unofficial start of the St. Patrick’s season.”
It’s the first parade of the season for the bagpipe band and a great time for local musicians to come together, according to the couple. The Nicholsons agreed they enjoyed the sunny and warm environment, a contrast to the feet of snow and cold weather last year.
“There’s no place to do it like on Tipperary Hill,” Coleen said.
The Tipp Hill community is one of the oldest and most important communities in Syracuse, according to Coleen. It’s a community made up of Irish immigrants who left Ireland during a time when nationalists fought for independence.
Parade attendee Skylar Wenzel said he didn’t expect so many people to show up to the event so early. Even with this, he liked that everyone participated in the festivities, regardless of their age and background.
Attendees recognized the line only got longer over the duration of the event, emphasizing the importance of having drinks, food and entertainment on standby to help pass the time.
Syracuse University junior Janna Van Varanken grew up in Camillus but shared this was her first time being a part of Green Beer Sunday activities. She noticed there’s generally a sense of Irish community in Syracuse.
Mary Kate and Collin Cacchione, siblings born and raised on Tennyson Avenue in Tippy Hill, grew up watching the event evolve to what it is now. They have been participating since turning of drinking age. Collin said what keeps him coming back to the event is, “Good times, good people and most importantly, beer.”
Reflecting on her time growing up around the event, Mary Kate said what’s most important is that everyone is allowed to join in on the festivities.
“Everyone’s Irish today. We’re all one big happy family,” Kate said.
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