Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Southern California 2026 with parades, bar crawls, Irish feasts, and flavors that make L.A. go gloriously green.
Every March 17, something quietly remarkable happens to Southern California.
The laid-back beach towns, the sun-drenched boulevards, the canyon roads lined with bougainvillea, they all go green. And not just green in the Instagram filter sense. The region transforms with genuine, full-throated celebration.
St. Patrick’s Day in Southern California 2026 is shaping up to be the most spirited edition yet. Whether you are the type who plans your corned beef brisket weeks in advance or the type who simply shows up and follows the sound of fiddles, there is something on the calendar for you.
This is the insider’s guide to doing it right.
A Weekend, Not Just a Day
If you thought St. Patrick’s Day was a single Tuesday moment, Southern California respectfully disagrees.
In 2026, the celebrations spread across multiple weekends, giving you more than one chance to get it right. (Or, if you are honest with yourself, more than one chance to recover.) The West Hollywood St. Patrick’s Day Bar Crawl runs on March 13, 15, and 17, turning the WeHo strip into a rolling Irish pub with stops at beloved venues like The Den on Sunset. It is the kind of crawl that begins with best intentions and ends with everyone doing a passable attempt at a jig.
Bar crawls also land in Los Angeles proper on March 14, with the Los Angeles Official St. Patrick’s Day Bar Crawl offering access to some of the city’s top bars alongside specially crafted drinks menus built for the occasion. Santa Monica and Pasadena both host their own crawls on March 14 as well, meaning you can calibrate the evening to your preferred neighborhood energy.
Santa Monica brings the ocean air and the casual cool. Pasadena brings history, tree-lined streets, and a crowd that dresses well even for a Thursday.
Hermosa Beach: The Parade That Earns Its Reputation
If you want the full parade experience, Hermosa Beach is where St. Patrick’s Day in Southern California finds its most festive form. On March 14, 2026, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival takes over this beloved South Bay beach town with Irish bands, traditional dancers, and the kind of community energy that reminds you why people fall in love with California in the first place. Hermosa has a knack for throwing events that feel both authentic and wildly fun. Think bagpipes meeting beach volleyball courts and somehow making perfect sense.
The parade draws a genuine cross-section of the region. Families, regulars from the local bars, visitors who drove down from the Westside, all sharing the same green-lit afternoon. The festival atmosphere pairs well with the town’s excellent food and drink scene. After the parade, wander the pier area where the pubs fill up and the music spills onto the sidewalk. This is the kind of afternoon that turns into an evening without you even noticing.
Celtic Culture at the Bowers Museum
For those who want their St. Patrick’s Day to go a little deeper than green beer and bar tabs, the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana offers something genuinely different. On March 13, 2026, the Celtic Festival brings Irish-inspired activities, cultural programming, and a sense of occasion that feels more like a proper celebration of heritage than a party supply store come to life. The Bowers is one of Southern California’s most respected cultural institutions, and its take on the Celtic tradition is thoughtful and immersive. It is the kind of event you tell people about afterward, not just post about.
Think of it as the cultural counterpoint to the bar crawl circuit. Both have their place. But if you have never spent a St. Patrick’s Day actually learning something about the music, the mythology, and the craftsmanship that Irish culture carries, the Bowers offers a rare afternoon for it. For more on Irish cultural events and their history, the Smithsonian’s Irish American Heritage resources offer excellent context year-round.
Run Before You Drink: The St. Paddy’s Day Lucky Run
March 14, 2026 also brings one of the more wholesome ways to celebrate the holiday: the St. Paddy’s Day Lucky Run at Palisades Park in Santa Monica. Choose from a 5K, 10K, or half-marathon distance, complete the course along the bluffs above the Pacific, and then spend the rest of the day feeling entirely justified about everything that follows. Runners arrive in green, the atmosphere is festive, and the finish line view of the ocean is worth the early alarm. Consider it your permission slip for the afternoon.
Where to Eat: The Corned Beef Question
No St. Patrick’s Day in Southern California is complete without a proper meal, and the corned beef question deserves a direct answer. Langer’s Delicatessen in Los Angeles has long held a place in the city’s culinary mythology for its corned beef sandwiches, carved to order and layered onto bread with the kind of confidence that only comes from seven decades of practice. It is not an Irish pub, exactly, but it is a Los Angeles institution that understands flavor, restraint, and the pleasure of a sandwich done completely right.
Beyond Langer’s, the city’s Irish pub scene steps up for the season. Spots across the Westside, in Hollywood, and throughout the Valley stock their kitchens with colcannon, soda bread, and proper Irish stew for the week. If you have a whiskey preference, now is a reasonable time to let it be known. Irish single malts have never had more presence on Southern California back bars.
For the enthusiast who wants to explore beyond Jameson, the landscape in 2026 includes Redbreast, Teeling, and a growing number of craft blends worth knowing.
FAQ: St. Patrick’s Day 2026 in Southern California
Q: When is St. Patrick’s Day 2026 in Southern California? A: St. Patrick’s Day falls on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, but Southern California celebrates across multiple weekends. Key events run from March 13 through March 17, with major bar crawls, parades, and festivals concentrated on March 14 in particular.
Q: What is the best neighborhood for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Los Angeles? A: It depends on your style. West Hollywood offers the most extended bar crawl experience across multiple nights. Hermosa Beach hosts the most authentic parade and street festival. Santa Monica combines the Lucky Run with a coastal bar scene. For a cultural experience, the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana is worth the drive south.
Q: Where can I find traditional corned beef in Los Angeles for St. Patrick’s Day? A: Langer’s Delicatessen in Los Angeles is the most celebrated spot for corned beef sandwiches in the city. Many Irish pubs throughout the region also add traditional corned beef dishes to their menus specifically for the St. Patrick’s Day season.
Make Your Plans Now
Southern California does not do anything halfway, and St. Patrick’s Day 2026 is no exception. Whether you spend the weekend running bluff trails above the Pacific, tasting your way through a Celtic festival, raising a glass in West Hollywood, or simply sitting down to a proper corned beef sandwich with someone you like, the region has made room for all of it. The only thing left is to pick your green and show up.
