St. Patrick’s Day, honoring a fourth century Christian apostle, is one of the biggest and busiest drinking and dancing events of the year, and live music has become as much a requirement of the holiday as green beer and corned beef.

For the third year, 3rd Arm Promotions kicked off the festivities — the Saturday before March 17 — with one of the area’s premier music events of the year. The all day Pre-Pat’s Party at Salty Grog’s started with kegs and eggs at 8 a.m.; the first of 16 of the area’s best and most popular bands took to the two stages — indoors and, alternately, in the attached, heated tent — at noon, and ran continuously into the night.

Attendance was relatively sparse until mid-afternoon, when Jordan DePaul and the Reputations’ family and friends moved in. From then on, it was all asses and elbows, and each band’s short set featured their best material.

The Mahoning Valley St. Patrick’s Day Parade was Sunday. It is not primarily a musical promenade, but the Ursuline HS Marching Band led their state championship football team up Market St. and visiting bagpipe groups provided the ethnic atmosphere. Irish pubs and the Operating Engineers Union hosted related activities, with a two-day Irish Festival at St. Maron’s Recreation Pavilion; two bands Saturday, and four Celtic groups Sunday.

A usual Tuesday has 3-4 bands playing out and a few open mics. The St. Pat’s Day schedule on JamBrain showed 23 venues with special programs involving 46 bands, many of them running all day. Quaker Steak and Lube in Sharon had 12 ethnic and rock bands playing through the day; Metters had five.

O’Donold’s Irish Pub and Grill may have had the most unique offering: free bus rides between their Austintown and Niles locations, and the Ice House between them, and free rides home (in your own car) for those partakingly unable. Their decision to book The Rage resulted in a fully packed 20,000 square foot tent, with such a crowd that more than a dozen dancers sought jiggle room on the stage.

Despite the nature of the commemoration, St. Patrick did not invent green beer; nor was he the Pied Piper of of Hamelin.