Edmontonians embrace their inner Irish on St. Patrick's Day

EDMONTON - From traditional Irish food, dancing, and of course, beer - the spirit of St. Patrick was alive and well in Edmonton on Sunday.

St. Paddy's Day is one of the busiest days of the year for Irish pubs, and that was definitely evident at the Druid on Jasper Avenue this weekend.

Party-goers packed the place bright and early to enjoy a traditional Irish breakfast that wouldn't be complete without blood pudding, or black sausage as it's known - made with actual blood, giving it a "bold" flavour. It's served alongside scrambled eggs and baked soda bread, which the Druid's culinary manager Fred Gagnon says is perfect "to sop up some of those liquids" that are consumed on St. Patrick's Day.

Amidst a sea of green, pub patrons admit it's easy to overindulge on those green beers and pints of Guinness.

"It's a good day where I think everybody shows up for the pub all day real early and just drinking all day," says Ehren Cox.

Bar manager Jay Wright say it's usually a pretty fun-loving crowd, but there can be the odd reveller who has had too much to drink. In addition to having extra security on hand, staff are reminding patrons to drink responsibly.

"We have numbers they can call to get their car home safe, we can call them a cab, we encourage people to kind of plan ahead and we certainly offer free coffee and pop for designated drivers that come down too."

"You got to make sure you got someone who's going to be the (designated driver), someone whose either going to, like, get a cab or whatever, cabs are going to be tight today so you've got to make sure that you've got a plan or a way out instead of driving," says party-goer Andrew Herman.

It's estimated bartenders at the Druid will pour more than 1,500 pints of Guinness on St. Patrick's Day.

You can watch Sunday morning's celebrations in the video below:

With files from Shannon Greer, Global News

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