Celebrating the Irish

Lawrence, area towns plan parades, other festivities

You don’t have to be named O’Riley to get into the St. Patrick’s Day mood this weekend.

Sunday afternoon, Massachusetts Street will be lined with people wearing green and looking forward to the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

The parade begins at 2 p.m., and will follow a route down Massachusetts Street to the Flamingo Club, 501 N. Ninth St.

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Kansas City, Mo., begins at 11 a.m. Sunday. The parade will start at Pershing Street and Grand Avenue at Crown Center and finish at Admiral Boulevard and Grand Avenue.

Leavenworth’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade begins at 1 p.m. in downtown Leavenworth, and Topeka’s festivities will kick off with a parade at noon in the city’s downtown area.

For those who want to get an early jump on the holiday, Tonganoxie will have its annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade at 10 a.m. today. The parade will start at Fourth and Pleasant streets and travel west on Fourth.

A corned beef dinner will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tonganoxie Congregational Church, Fourth and Shawnee streets.

Cowboy Celtic, a Canadian band that plays western adaptations of Scottish and Irish songs, will perform at 7:30 p.m. today at Ottawa Municipal Auditorium, Third and Hickory. The Western Music Associations of Kansas and Missouri will have a preshow dinner, featuring a hearty stew, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the auditorium.

Tickets to the concert are $15 for adults and $7.50 for those under 10. Meal tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for those under 10.

Also, the 19th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade will start at 2 p.m. today in downtown Atchison. Trolley tours that showcase the community’s Irish heritage are at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. today and 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday. The tours depart from the Santa Fe Depot, 200 S. 10th St.

Here are some other events going on this weekend:

Today

“The Life and Times of the Three Little Pigs,” 2 p.m., Theatre for Young America, Mission Center Mall, 4881 Johnson Drive, Mission.

“Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright,” 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Missouri Repertory Theatre, Center for the Performing Arts, 50th and Cherry streets, Kansas City, Mo.

“reach a movement collective,” 7 p.m., Lawrence Arts Center, 200 W. Ninth St.

Lawrence Barn Dance Assn. barn dance, 7:30 p.m., Lawrence Arts Center Annex, 205 1/2 W. Eighth St.

Wu-Tang Clan, Mac Lethal, DJ Platinum, Bomb Squad, 8 p.m., Liberty Hall, 644 Mass.

“Wit,” 8 p.m., Lawrence Community Theatre, 1501 N.H.

“Gershwin’s Strike Up the Band,” 8 p.m., Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park.

“Dos Pasquale,” 8 p.m., Lyric Opera of Kansas City, 1029 Central, Kansas City, Mo.

“Spinning Into Butter,” 8 p.m., Unicorn Theatre, 3823 Main St., Kansas City, Mo.

“Dames at Sea,” 8 p.m., American Heartland Theatre Co., Crown Center, 2450 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.

“La Cage Aux Folles,” 8 p.m., Topeka Civic Theatre, Gage and S.W. Eighth streets, Topeka.

Sunday

“Dames at Sea,” 2 p.m., American Heartland Theatre Co., Crown Center, 2450 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.

“The Life and Times of the Three Little Pigs,” 2 p.m., Theatre for Young America, Mission Center Mall, 4881 Johnson Drive, Mission.

“Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright,” 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Missouri Repertory Theatre, Center for the Performing Arts, 50th and Cherry streets, Kansas City, Mo.

“Spinning Into Butter,” 3 p.m., Unicorn Theatre, 3823 Main St., Kansas City, Mo.

“reach a movement collective,” 7 p.m., Lawrence Arts Center, 200 W. Ninth St.

Boney James, 8 p.m., Uptown Theatre, 3700 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo.

Swing dance, 9 p.m.-1 a.m., with salsa and swing lessons from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Dance Academy, 1117 Mass.

Ongoing

Ice Terrace, through March 24, Crown Center, 2450 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.

“Remembering 9/11: The World Trade Center in Photographs,” through March 31, Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, KU.

Lawrence Photo Alliance and Lawrence Art Guild’s Langston Hughes exhibit, through March 31, Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.

“From Rags to Riches, Cloth Dolls of Douglas County,” through March 31, Watkins Community Museum of History, 1047 Mass.

“Tutankhamun: Wonderful Things” exhibit, through April 21, Crown Center, 2450 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.

“Behind the Screen: Making Motion Pictures and Television,” through May 12, Union Station, 20 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, Mo.

“Tim Rollins/KOS and the Langston Hughes Project,” through May 26, Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, KU.

“Langston Hughes, A Voice for All People,” through May, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, KU.

“Good Bears of the World,” through July 11, Toy and Miniature Museum, 5235 Oak St., Kansas City, Mo.

“From Reservation to Corporate Office: A Donation of Southwest Art,” through Aug. 18, Museum of Anthropology, KU.

“Truman’s Chryslers,” through September, Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, Mo.

Topeka Zoo, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays, 635 S.W. Gage Blvd., Topeka.