What is the Dogtown Irish Festival?
The purpose of the Dogtown Irish Festival is to highlight the unique spirit and celebrated history of the Dogtown neighborhood. The festival brings in live music and local vendors to complement the Ancient Order of Hibernians St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which has been held since 1984.
When is the Dogtown Irish Festival?
The Dogtown Irish Festival takes place on St. Patrick’s Day in collaboration with the Ancient Order of Hibernians St. Patrick’s Day Parade. No matter what day of the week St. Patrick’s Day falls on, the event will always take place ON March 17.
For the 2025 season, the Dogtown Irish Festival will be on Monday, March 17.
Where is the Dogtown Irish Festival?
Dogtown is a historic neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Located about 10 minutes west of Downtown, you can find the neighborhood right off of highway 64, just south of Forest Park.
On St. Patrick’s Day, the Ancient Order of Hibernians St. Patrick’s Day Parade runs south down Tamm Avenue from Oakland to Manchester. The Irish Festival takes place along and around the parade route, with the majority of activities/amenities in the three festival zones:
Family Zone - on Oakland, east of Tamm
Party Zone - intersection of Tamm and Clayton
Irish Culture Zone - on the St. James Campus at Wade and Tamm
What is included in the Dogtown Irish Festival?
The Dogtown Irish Festival begins at 9:00 a.m. The festival will feature food and drinks from numerous vendors.
The Bud Light Party Zone, located at Clayton and Tamm, will feature a DJ on the Red Bull main stage from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Food and merchandise will be available for purchase from local businesses and vendors in the POWERS Insurance and Risk Management Vendor Village, which will also host the LIT Cigar Lounge Patio.
The Dogtown Pizza Family Zone will feature Irish music throughout the day on the Andrew Broombaugh State Farm Stage, as well as additional vendor booths with family-friendly activities and games.
The Irish Culture Zone at St. James the Greater will feature traditional food and Irish music (more below).
All outside sales in the festival area will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will end promptly at 6:00 p.m. Establishments on Tamm will close at 8:00 p.m.
What time does the parade start?
The Ancient Order of Hibernians St. Patrick’s Day Parade, starts at 11:00 a.m. and lasts approximately two hours.
This year’s parade will contain almost 100 units featuring floats highlighting Irish dancing, music and salutes to Irish history and culture. Like traditional parades held in the Emerald Isle on Saint Patrick's feast day, a good portion of St. Louis' Irish American community will be marching as clans under their family crests and banners. Click here for more information about the parade.
What is going on at St. James the Greater during the week of St. Patrick’s Day?
Sunday, March 16
8:00 a.m. Sunday Mass
9:00 a.m. Church Open for Tours
3:00 p.m. Music by Brian Duggles
4:00 p.m. Mass with Ancient Order of Hibernians
5:00 p.m. Music by The Red-Headed Strangers
5:30 p.m. Pouring of First Guinness
7:00 p.m. Dinner Ends
8:00 p.m. Doors Close
MONDAY, March 17
7:30 a.m. Weekday Mass
8:00 a.m. Church Open for Tours
8:00 a.m. Coffee in Community Center
10:00 a.m. Outside Tents Open
11:00 a.m. Dinner
11:00 a.m. Music by The Irish Aires
4:00 p.m. Church Closes
5:00 p.m. Dinner Ends
6:00 p.m. Festivities Conclude
Will there be ride-hailing pick-up locations?
Yes! We will have a ride-hailing area for both cabs and ride-sharing services on Oakland, just west of Hampton, and on Mitchell, as it meets Manchester. The festival committee strongly encourages guests to get a ride to and from the festival, as parking will be very limited in the neighborhood.
Keep in mind that cell-phone signals may be weak due to the crowd size. Please plan to walk two blocks to the east or west away from the festival area in order to hail a ride. Drivers will not be able to get close enough to pick you up near the festival area.
What streets are closed or one-way?
Wells Drive in Forest Park between Government Drive and Tamm Avenue overpass
Oakland between just west of Art Hill to just east of Graham
Tamm between Oakland and Manchester
The following streets between Childress and Graham: Berthold, Clayton, Victoria, West Park, Nashville, Wade, and Lloyd, Brockschmidt and all alleys
Childress from Brockschmidt to Oakland will be re-directed to ONE-WAY traffic heading NORTH; There will be No Parking on the west side of Childress in this area
Graham will be closed to traffic between Oakland and Victoria
Graham from Victoria to Manchester will be re-directed to ONE-WAY traffic heading SOUTH; there will be No Parking on the east side of Graham in this area.
Crescent from Clayton to Hampton will be re-directed to one-way traffic heading EAST (reverse of its normal direction)
The entire Bud Light Party Zone will be closed 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., which includes Tamm Avenue from Berthold to West Park, Wise from Tamm to just east of Childress, and Clayton from just east of Childress to east of Graham.
Sections of Manchester will be closed to various degrees to provide additional safety for parade participants.
From McCausland to Mitchell, Manchester will be closed EXCEPT for local traffic and parking access.
From Mitchell to Gregg, Manchester will be closed entirely.
From Gregg to Hampton, Manchester will be closed with strictly limited access to residential traffic.
The above closures will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. with the exception that the intersection of Manchester and Tamm will be closed from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
What areas are no parking?
A "No Parking" zone will be established along the parade route. Signs will be posted in No Parking areas several days before the event. The No Parking order will go into effect promptly at 6:00 a.m. on March 17 and will not end until 10:00 p.m. Cars parked in this area will be ticketed and towed! If possible, avoid parking on the parade route on Wednesday night to avoid the hassle of moving your car early in the morning!
Because we are ordering many dumpsters and portable toilets, deliveries of these items must begin approximately two days before the event. Small 100-feet No Parking areas will be designated on every cross street of Tamm in both directions beginning Tuesday morning for equipment staging. Please excuse this inconvenience.
To depart the festival area: If you are parked to the west of Tamm, please depart the neighborhood heading west toward McCausland or Skinker. If you are parked east of Tamm, please depart heading east toward Hampton.
Where can I find parking on March 17?
The St. Louis Zoo will have their parking lots open for a fee. The large lot north of I-64 is accessible via Wells Drive westbound, using the traffic circle on Hampton Avenue. Please note, you cannot access this lot from eastbound on Wells via Skinker or the Tamm Avenue overpass due to street closures. The Zoo lots located off Oakland and Berthold will also be open. You can access these from Hampton either by going westbound down Oakland or westbound down Berthold.
The St. James the Greater Parish Park Lot is available for a fee, with access only from Tamm and Manchester between 6:00 and 9:00 a.m., and exiting allowed only after 3:00 p.m. Tamm will be open until 8:00 a.m. for vehicles en route to park at the St. James parking lot.
Parking is also available for a fee in the lots of the St. Louis Marketplace on the south side of Manchester and Colombo’s Cafe & Tavern on the north side of Manchester. Note: These lots will be accessible regardless of Manchester street closures, but must be accessed from the west. See above street map for details.
These parking lots are operated independently and are not affiliated with the Dogtown Irish Festival.
Once these lots are full, please do not attempt to park on public streets within the festival area of the Dogtown neighborhood. These streets fill up with cars very early in the morning. Out of respect to local residents and to prevent traffic congestion, instead of parking locally, please consider arranging to get a ride to and from the festival.
Where can I park my bike?
There will be bike racks available by Turtle Park on Oakland to park bicycles.
Is there still a cooler/backpack ban?
In order to protect residents and festival attendees, we will continue to prohibit coolers, backpacks and glass bottles from the festival area. Outside alcohol is also prohibited. None of these items will be allowed into the festival area or past any checkpoints. Containers necessary for child care purposes will be permitted.
Will parade floats be allowed to pass out beads?
Beads are back! Parade floats will be allowed to pass out beads again this year, however the policy for passing out candy has changed. Please see below.
Will parade floats be allowed to pass out candy?
The Ancient Order of Hibernians would like to remind parade spectators that passing out candy will not be part of the celebration this year to help ensure safety and reduce clean up in the Dogtown neighborhood.
What about security?
We will have private security guards posted at numerous entry/exit checkpoints, marshaling the parade route, directing traffic, and enforcing street closures throughout the day.
Barricades will be placed at key intersections to prevent unauthorized vehicles from entering the festival and parade areas. Expect major street closures from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. A full map and list of closures and times can be found below.
The parade route along Oakland and Tamm will be locked down to all traffic at 6:00 a.m. Houses and businesses along the route will not be accessible by car after this time. Traffic on all streets intersecting across Tamm may not re-open until between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Please plan your travel accordingly.
What ADA accessibility options are available at the event?
Dogtown United recognizes the importance of providing access to all members of our community, including those with accessibility needs. We are committed to ensuring equal access to our annual celebration.
Our services include prime parade route accessibility seating at Tamm Avenue and Oakland (northeast corner), an ADA toilet near the viewing area, as well as sign language interpreters at the festival stages. A limited number of parking spots will be reserved on Oakland Avenue, just east of Graham.
ADA toilets will be available at the following locations:
North-side of Oakland at Tamm (by ADA viewing area)
Pat Connolly Tavern tent area
Clayton at Childress and at Graham
Tamm at West Park (on both sides of Tamm)
Tamm at Lloyd (both sides of street)
Tamm near Manchester (east side only)
What are the plans for trash clean-up?
Numerous dumpsters and trash barrels will be placed along key parts of the parade route, many more than from prior years. The festival has hired Regency Services to conduct trash pickup in the evening, the parade route, and will come back the next morning. The City's street sweepers will come through on the evening of March 17 after the festival ends. The dumpsters will be removed and emptied on March 18.
Do you need any help or volunteers with this year's event?
Yes! We’re looking for volunteers to help us with signage set up and break down, bartending and recycling and trash pick up. If you are interested in volunteering, click here to sign up