Star and Shamrock Readies for Purim, “Jewish St. Patrick’s Day”, and month-long Spring Shenanigans Simcha Festival

1341 H Street, NE

From Star & Shamrock:

“The Star and Shamrock is less than one week away from kicking off its first-ever, month-long Spring Shenanigans Simcha Festival, launching this coming Wednesday, March 4th, the first night of the Jewish holiday, Purim. Dubbed by the deli/tavern as “the Jewish St. Patrick’s Day”, this particular Jewish holiday is famously celebrated by being drunk on happiness, with the help of lots of good alcohol. In fact, the Talmud even instructs Jewish people to celebrate the holiday as “yemei mishteh v’simchah, days of drinking and rejoicing” (Esther 9:22). With guidelines like that, this is clearly a holiday for people of all faiths. Staying true to its Irish-Jewish namesake, Star and Shamrock is setting course to mark this “Jewish St. Patrick’s Day” with a Purim Party packed with as much revelry as its upcoming Irish one.

The festivities will begin at 7:00 pm on the evening of 4th, featuring a wide-range of menu specials, drink specials, live entertainment, and even a costume contest, throughout the course of the evening. Given the drinking-centric nature of the holiday, the event will be held in partnership with the popular Shmaltz Brewing Company, whose brewing industry celebrity founder, Jeremy Cowan, will be onsite for a He’Brew “Tap Takeover”.

Said NY-based Cowan, “We always have the best time when we come down to Star and Shamrock, like we did in December during their “8 Crazy Nights” Hanukkah Celebration. We never know exactly what to expect, but we always know it’s going to be awesome–which is exactly how any great party should be. We’re really looking forward to making more friends and having a whole lot of fun in what’s become one of our favorite bars in one of our favorite cities in the country.”

Shmaltz’s He’Brew Tap Takeover will include a wide selection of its award-winning, top-rated, barrel-aged, beers including their Hop Manna IPA, Funky Jewbelation 2015, Death of a Contract Brewer Black IPA, Jewbelation 18, Specialty 12 oz feature bottled beers and/or flights of specialty beers, and a limited supply of their highly lauded Saint Jewbelation Belgian Style Imperial Sour Rye, directly from their Clifton Park Brewery–with select free samples and giveaways from party start to finish.

Star and Shamrock co-owner, Jason Feldman, added, “We love to throw a good party at the Star and Shamrock, and Purim is one of the best opportunities we get to do that, it allows us to be irreverent and have fun with our unique theme. Purim is the Jewish drinking holiday and we fully intend to make the most out it!”

Along with the He’Brew Tap Takeover and a special “Manischewitz Whiskey Punch” $5 craft cocktail special, Star and Shamrock’s kitchen team will be serving up a full menu of twists on traditional Purim holiday favorites with the highlight being its, “Battle of the Briskets” pitting their traditional signature house-cured Irish Corned Beef against their unique Jewish-style slow roasted Batamte Brisket (“Batamte” means “tasty” or “delicious” in Yiddish) served with braised cabbage and a delicious, savory, soon-to-be famous house-made knish.

Party-goers will be entertained by live music performed by local Klezmer act Klezcentricity (http://www.klezcentricity.com). Klezmer music is kind of like “Jewish Bluegrass” but without any singing and with clarinets and accordions instead of banjos and guitars–so really, nothing like Bluegrass at all, except in spirit, since it’s similarly a fun, traditional music-of-the-people mainstay.

Klezcentricy is no stranger to Star and Shamrock. In speaking about past experiences, bandleader, David Gray said, “We love playing the Star and Shamrock! This venue gives us a chance to really have fun with our material and reach a diverse audience that otherwise may not have had a chance to enjoy Klezmer. Plus, how often does a Klezmer band get to perform in a Irish bar?”

And finally, also in true Purim tradition, Star and Shamrock will hold a costume contest promising what Feldman described as “significant” prizes. The costume contest is for adults, with no specific costuming guidelines–as the holiday’s costuming roots are derived from parades akin to Mardis Gras, with any number of costume varieties and themes. Judging is set to take place throughout the night, with winners announced at 9pm.

Other do not miss events on tap during Star and Shamrock’s month-long Spring Shenanigans Simcha Festival include:

3/14: Shamrocking Saturday, kicking off a week filled with St. Patrick’s celebrations, featuring live music by The Molly Hawks.

3/15: St. Paddy’s Family Sunday Funday, the always family-friendly tavern will open its doors for a host of St. Patrick’s Day kid-centric menu specials and entertainment.

3/17: St. Patrick’s Day Tuesday Booze Day, building on Star and Shamrock’s longstanding St. Patrick’s Day party tradition of an 8am start time, all-day array of bar and menu specials, live music and other entertainment.

3/17-3/29: March Madness, offering all basketball games for viewing on Star and Shamrock’s seven well-placed flat screens, dubbed “TVs at every Turn”, while serving up a smorgasbord of in-game drink and menu specials.

3/20: The First Day of Spring Restaurant Rebirth, a party to formally introduce Star and Shamrock’s full new bar program and expanded menu.

4/4: Star & Shamrock Five-Year Anniversary Passover Party, which will also serve as the Spring Shenanigans Simcha Festival’s closing party, offering a wide variety of twists on traditional Passover dishes as well as entertainment, contests and other to be announced activities.”