When people think of St. Patrick’s day they often picture big parties and parades, in the bay area the staple of St. Patrick’s day is the big Parade held in San Francisco. It was canceled in 2020 but this year they had time to plan ahead and their solution was to hold an online celebration for anyone to join.

Many other local communities got creative and decided to hold their own celebrations on the 17th that were COVID-19 safe. In Burlingame, they are planning to hold a drive-by parade that will go through the downtown and neighborhood. In Foster City, they set up a scavenger hunt for kids.

Just like every other year, many food places and stores have their special St. Patrick’s Day deals. On St. Patrick’s Day, Chick-fil-A served green ice cream and milkshakes. Throughout the whole month of March, McDonald’s will have their famous Shamrock Shakes and the Oreo Shamrock McFlurry, Dunkin will have Dunkin’s Irish Crème to add to any coffee, and Cold Stone Creamery will have Lucky Charms Ice Cream.

“Shamrock Shakes are the best things to have during March. It’s essentially a mint-flavored milkshake that’s green. It’s only served in March and it is so good. I highly recommend that everyone tries it at least once in their lives,” shares junior Emma Boyd about how she feels about the Shamrock Shake.

In the NDB community, the cross country team held a special St. Patrick’s race. The NDB team was the only team on the course that day but other teams participated virtually. The girls also wore special St. Patrick’s themed outfits in celebration.

“The highlight of the race was when the race finished because it was our last meet together so we had our Senior ceremony and it kind of had an end of season party vibe,” says senior Alejandra Fernandez. “We were introducing everyone to the people there and Coach Kristi was saying our times and a little bit about us so it was a good end of the season.”

People are trying to make the most of this year’s St. Patrick’s day while staying safe.