St. Patrick's Day is Sunday, but some folks and business owners are trying to turn this into a three-day holiday. For some, that might mean a three-day drinking binge.
Butch McGuire's on Division and Dearborn was packed by 5 o'clock Friday, nearly two days before St. Patrick's Day.
"It's kind of a very traditional holiday for a lot of people," says Butch McGuire owner Bobby McGuire. "They plan ahead, they make it a big weekend."
The people are loving the "holiday" weekend.
"Wonderful. Woo!!" bar patron Dan James says. "Tons of crazy ladies screaming in your ear all weekend long."
Celebrating the Irish holiday also means plenty of drinks will be flowing. Some bars offering multiple pub crawls throughout the weekend.
Bar owners say the holiday isn't as rough as you may think.
"If we have the right people working, the right amount of people working, then we leave the problems outside," McGuire says. "They don't come through the front door."
If violence or lewdness spills out, many areas around Chicago's north side are stepping up patrols.
Aldermen, like Bob Fioretti say the goal is to take care of one another and to make no one is out there drinking and driving.
"St Patrick's Day is actually the day that Saint Patrick died on, so it's in honor of him. We don't want any deaths here in the city," Fioretti says. "The word is out that you've got to be careful out there and I hope people live up to it."
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Several military families were honored in Orland Park on Friday, and got to meet country music superstar Tim McGraw. Five of those families are from the Chicago area, and they were excited to meet him.
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