Sheabeen’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration will be smaller than 2019, but it’ll certainly be better than 2020

St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday will look a little different at Sheabeen Irish Pub for a second straight year. 

There won’t be any bagpipe players, tap dancers from The Bennet School of Irish Dance inside the walls of the 31-year-old Aurora pub and maybe not all of the 75 to 100 loyal patrons that come each March 17.

But it’ll still be an improvement over St. Patrick’s Day last year, when Colorado Gov. Jared Polis had just ordered restaurants to close completely for in-person dining.

“Anything’s better than last year and I really mean that,” said Andy Schmidt, the owner of Sheabeen.

Despite the fact that the current restriction to 50% capacity will mean the restaurant won’t have its usual line out the door for the holiday, Sheabeen will keep some of the traditions it’s had since the restaurant’s first St. Patrick’s Day in 1990. 

Sheabeen will still open two hours earlier than normal at 9 a.m. for a day filled with entertainment, starting with the showing of the “Quiet Man” an hour later.

A hearty lunch of corned beef and cabbage is prepared for serving at noon with familiar sounds of live music that will continue until the bar closes.

“Tomorrow’s definitely going to be a scaled-down version,” Schmidt said.

“We’re not making as much food, the Pipes and Drums band aren’t doing any shows this year, nor are the step dancers, so it’ll be a lot lower key, but we’ll have some live music, which should be cool and help us carry on our tradition.”

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But even with the 50% capacity limit and fewer entertainment acts, the holiday will still be merrier than last year. On March 16, 2020, Polis ordered all restaurants, bars, gyms, and movie theaters to close indefinitely as cases of COVID-19 climbed in Colorado.

In the days leading up to the announcement, Sheabeen’s staff fully prepared for what is traditionally their busiest day of the year, preparing over 125 pounds of corn beef and 50 pounds of cabbage, 50 pounds of potatoes and around 20 pounds of carrots and various other ingredients ready for the celebration.

In addition to the food, green lights, tinsels and four leaf clovers were spread out across the bar, but were never seen. 

“Last year we got all prepared for it and I’ll be honest with ya, I was tossing and turning at night anyways trying to decide whether to hold it or not, but the governor made it easy on me,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt tried to donate all of the prepared food, but unfortunately food shelves wouldn’t take the corned beef because it was already cooked. So instead, he gave it to his loyal patrons and employees.

For tomorrow, Schmidt’s team has prepared only 80 pounds of corn beef and significantly less cabbage, potatoes and carrots than usual. 

But the same decorations will make their usual appearances, and the show will go on.

“We’re still expecting a big crowd, but not what we would usually do on a traditional St. Patrick’s Day,” Schmidt said. “We’re just glad we’re going to have people to celebrate the holiday with this year, and are ready for a day of fun.”

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