Photos by SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Dermot Palmer (from left), Kristen Harper and Kelsey French, members of Jamestown Pipe Band, perform in Roanoke's St. Patrick's Day Parade.

As Saturday's parade crowd thins, Phil Wilson enjoys a green beer at Flanary's Irish pub.

Photos by SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Wes Chappell (left) and Sonny Campbell perform on Jefferson Street on Saturday in Roanoke's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.

The luck of the Irish and sunny skies aligned for those who celebrated St. Patrick's Day revelry in downtown Roanoke on Saturday.

Leprechauns danced, bagpipes played and people pranced about in green garb during the St. Patrick's Day Parade and Celtic Festival. The annual event has been held for the past 20 years. McDonald's sponsors the parade.

But the festival and parade weren't the only attractions. As early as 9 a.m., people trickled into bars and restaurants, eating Irish food and drinking glasses of green beer.

This Celtic fete, which typically draws at least 10,000 people, is one of the largest, if not the largest, sales day of the year for many downtown bars and restaurants.

"It's really gained a lot of steam," said Roger Neel, who owns several Roanoke Valley restaurants, including Corned Beef & Co. downtown.

One change this year worked in favor of downtown restaurants: No outside food vendors were allowed.

EventZone, the organizer and producer of the Irish celebration, did not include the typical five or six food vendors for several reasons, said Larry Landolt, EventZone's executive director.

For one, Corned Beef was an event sponsor, and it sold $5 corned beef sandwiches during the festival, Landolt said.

Also, most outside food vendors do not sell Celtic food, and Landolt wanted to encourage people to spend money at local eateries.

"People don't just stay in one spot," he said. "They go from place to place. I'm hoping to create this environment where people are just mingling downtown all day long."

But even with food vendors in the past, the festival is a boon for local eateries. It's one of the top five sales days of the year for Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill on First Street, said Dan Mock, assistant general manager.

The bar and restaurant opened for lunch on Saturday, with a menu that included Irish nachos for $8.95, shepherd's pie for $12.95, and bangers and mash for $10.95. Dessert was chocolate cake spiked with Guinness stout for $4.95.

"We sell out of that every time," Mock said.

Martin's typically opens only for dinner on Saturdays, but its operators make an exception for the annual Irish festival. The restaurant was practically full by midday Saturday.

"It's where the good beer is," said Frank Bartin, who drank a glass of Guinness at the bar at Martin's.

Bartin wore a kilt, while his wife, Kelley, wore a long, Scottish-style dress. They come to the festival most years, and Saturday they planned to make other restaurant stops, including Flanary's Irish Pub and Corned Beef.

Tracy Huffman and Steven Webb took their places in front of Flanary's on South Jefferson Street at 10 a.m. on Saturday. This was Flanary's first year open for the Irish fete. The pub opened last year on March 24.

Two Irish flags flew high outside Flanary's on Saturday.

"Where else do you want to be than an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day?" asked Huffman, who drank a glass of green beer and donned a green hat.

She said she doesn't normally drink beer in the morning. The festival and parade were exceptions.

"It's like being on vacation," Huffman said, laughing.

The Celtic festival is not a large moneymaking opportunity for all downtown businesses. Vendors at the city's farmers market said festivals in general do not bring significant sales because people are more focused on the activities associated with these outdoor celebrations.

Also, parking is limited and certain streets are blocked off, deterring people from buying large plants or flowers that they could load into a vehicle, said Janet Walter of Walter's Greenhouse, a market vendor.

Even so, a festival may produce "publicity that you wouldn't normally get," she said Saturday, her first day selling flowers and plants on the market since December, because of a late blooming season.

Perhaps people saw her booth during the festival and will come back to check it out another weekend, she said.