St. Paul Celebrating St. Paddy's Day Early
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The City of St. Paul celebrated St. Patrick's Day early on Saturday with an all-day block party along West 7th St.
The St. Paul Visitors' Bureau estimated the event that ran from 1a.m. to 11p.m. would rake in up to $250,000 just from sales tax from the participating businesses.
Some of the people celebrating in the streets said the first annual LuckyPalooza was the most crowded St. Patrick's Day they could remember in St. Paul.
"The people-watching is awesome today," Woodbury resident Dan Peterson said.
Cossetta's manager Ryan Caulfield said the Italian eatery has held special events in a tent behind the restaurant in past years but this year's official event brought in an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people in the streets.
"We definitely feel we are making a profit and attracting new possible customers," he said.
Visit St. Paul spokesperson Adam Johnson said the first official LuckyPalooza was born out of another successful St. Paul event that happened last January -- Red Bull Crashed Ice.
"For Crashed Ice there were probably 30,000 to 40,000 people out here on the street after the event on the hill got done, so a couple of bar owners said why don't we get together and do that again the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day," Johnson said.
Organizers and attendees said the great weather was a lucky break for the St. Patty's Day event.
Peterson said he hopes the city he loves to visit from his home in Woodbury gains more regulars from the people passing through.
"The sense of the intimacy of the town is what makes it special," he said.