Community Corner

Bar Crawls Keep St. Patrick's Day Tradition Alive in Hoboken

Annual celebration returns Saturday, minus the parade.

If one bar crawl wasn't enough to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, there will be at least two organized efforts Saturday in Hoboken.

"Leprecon," which began in 2012 when the the annual St. Patrick's Day parade was canceled due to rowdiness resulting in more than 30 arrests at the 2011 event, will feature bar crawls, Hoboken Leprecon 2014 and Hoboken St. Patrick's Day.

Hoboken St. Patrick's Day, which listed 41 participating bars Friday afternoon, says on its site, "our sole purpose is to unite the Hoboken community on one of the most joyous holidays of the year."

Hoboken Leprecon 2014, which claims to be "the real, the first, the only and original" Leprecon event, listed seven participating bars as of Friday afternoon.

The bar crawls have maintained a St. Patrick's Day tradition in Hoboken as efforts to revive the annual parade have faded. While the city has pushed for the parade to be held on a weekday, the Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee said in January that wasn't possible since many of the performers have day jobs.

The parade's sudden halt after a 25-year run has been a "travesty," Bill Coughlin, parade committee spokesman, told NJ.com.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here