Shamrocks, Drink and Salsa
By Sayada Nabi
St. Patrick’s Day, also known as the Feast of St. Patrick, is annually celebrated on March 17 to commemorate the death of St. Patrick.
The holiday is significant both religiously and culturally marked by the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, Downtown Toronto. The celebrations begin early morning in churches, and usually go on until the depth of night.
St. Roch’s Church is one of the many cathedrals in Toronto that hosted Sunday mass on St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The church is located at 2889 Islington Ave and is apart of the Archdiocese of Toronto, home to 1.8 million Catholics in the Greater Toronto Area and led by Cardinal Thomas Collins.
The Archdiocese produced an infographic with interesting facts, to inform their followers about the significance of St. Patrick’s Day and who he was. The first interesting fact is that St. Patrick was not Irish by birth; he was born in Scotland where he was captured and transported to Ireland by pirates to be enslaved for six years. It is believed that his enslavement attributed to his devotion to Christianity that helped him attain his priesthood, and instrumental in earning his ordainment as a Bishop. St. Patrick’s Day is associated with the shamrock, also known as a three-leaf clover due to the idea that St. Patrick utilized the object as an educational apparatus. He used the shamrock to teach the residents of Ireland, where he preached for 40 years, about the Holy Trinity.
The cultural celebrations begin at the annual parade, continuing at the bars and clubs as the holiday has become notorious for spirited partygoers to wear green, and drink green beers. Although Emery Village is not the entertainment district of Toronto, there is a selection of Bars to head to if you just want a drink and some pleasant company. The Weston Sports Bar and Café located at 2833 Weston rd. celebrated St. Patricks Day over the March 14-16 weekend. The bar offers more than just the typical beers and cocktails; it also has a full kitchen, which assists in fulfilling the orders from the takeout menu. If you are in need of satisfying late night cravings the Weston Sports Bar and Café is open to the community until 2 am.
If the bar is not enough, and you want to dance the night away head on over to Las Brisas Del Mar located at 24 Rivalda rd. This club provides partygoers with “The Latin Experience,” hosting events such as Blast Fridays, Sabados Con Classe and Tropical Sundays.
With three days to celebrate St. Patrick’s day the club was prepared to satisfy the community with great dance music and drinks, they even went as far as to eliminate the cover on Sunday night. The club hosted 6 different DJ’s for the 2014 St. Patricks Day weekend, beginning with DJ Kno and Mc Grande on Friday, then DJ Candela and Mc Angelito on Saturday, and DJ Damenace and DJ 507 on Sunday night. It was a very energetic environment that embraced St. Patrick’s weekend with high spirits illuminating the room in green lights décor.
If you are thinking about reserving one of their 20 available booths for a special event or want more information about the club you can contact them at (416) 741-0500 or www.lasbrisasnightclub.com.