40th Annual St. Pat’s Five Points was a success
May 25, 2022
Five Points Association Thanks Midlands’ Charities for Their Support with a Donation!
The Five Points Association is excited that they were able to, once again, host St. Pat’s in Five Points back on March 19th, after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19.
Forty years ago, Duncan MacRae of Yesterday’s Restaurant & Tavern, Steve Gibson of Peddler Steak House, Chuck Pettit of the Columbia Jaycees and Tony Latella of PYA Monarch sat down in a booth at Yesterday’s Restaurant & Tavern, had a few beers and devised a plan to increase the visibility of Five Points’ businesses on St. Patrick’s Day when most people were leaving town for Savannah. The Annual St. Pat’s in Five Points emerged forming a family fun-filled festival benefiting children’s charities in the Midlands.
St. Pat’s in Five Points is the Southeast’s largest one-day St. Patrick’s Day event that garners an average of 45,000 attendees between all the day’s events. Festivities in 2022 included:
- Get to the Green 5K, 10K and 1-Mile Family Fun Run
- St. Pat’s Parade
- Pot O’Gold Playland
- Four stages of live music featuring local, regional and national artists and headlined by Grammy winner, Blues Traveler, and TikTok sensation, Surfaces, and hosted by regional hip-hop pioneer, and Hopkins native, FatRat Da Czar
St. Pat’s in Five Points welcomes a myriad of demographic attendees – children, families, college students and senior citizens – annually and has a $7+ million economic impact on the City of Columbia and Richland County. More than 35% of attendees travel to Columbia for the festival and come from over 2,000 zip codes and over thirty countries.
The 40th Annual festival saw record numbers:
- Total attendees – 37,000 (between all the day’s events)
- Total tickets sold – 27,000
- Total materials recycled – 2,200 pounds
- Total runners – 1,422
- Pot O’Gold Playland attendance – 1,300
- Total volunteers – 383
- Total vendors – 45
- Parade units – 37
“The Five Points Association was extremely pleased with this year’s festival,” states Katy Renfroe, Association Manager, of the Five Points Association. “We had hoped for a good turnout, and Columbia didn’t disappoint. Many revelers told us the crowd was tamer than in years past, and they really enjoyed themselves.”
St. Pat’s in Five Points also affords the Five Points Association the opportunity to give back to the community that has been its biggest supporter. In the festival’s forty-year history, the Association has donated approximately $1M to local Midlands’ charities. For 2022, the Five Points Association is pleased to announce, in honor of its 40th Anniversary, they are able to donate $40,000 to twenty-nine Midlands’ charities including:
- 9/11 Remembrance Foundation
- AC Flora High School ROTC
- Ancient Order of the Hibernians, South Carolina Chapter
- The Arc of the Midlands
- Boy Scout Troop 330
- Carolina 4 All
- Carolina Wreckingballs
- City Year Columbia
- Columbia Roller Derby
- Columbia Police Department Citizens Academy
- Dreher High School Band Boosters
- Eau Claire Cooperative Health Centers
- Girl Scout Troop 3375
- Habitat for Humanity
- Junior Woman’s Club of Columbia
- Keep the Midlands Beautiful
- Midlands Gaming Coalition
- Military Vehicle Collectors of South Carolina
- The Martin Luther King Neighborhood Association
- Rainy Day Fund
- SC Center for Fathers and Families
- SC Starlings Volleyball
- The Sierra Club
- Sustainable Midlands
- Talented Tenth
- United Way of the Midlands
- Venture Crew 312
- Westminster Presbyterian Church
- Wheeler Hill Neighborhood
The Five Points Association sincerely thanks these non-profit institutions for their continued assistance with St. Pat’s in Five Points year-after-year as the festival would not happen without their support.
“St. Pat’s in Five Points wouldn’t happen without the support of other non-profits,” says Renfroe. “The FPA funds the association and our annual marketing efforts with revenue generated from St. Pat’s, but what we love most, is being able to give back to our community. We are proud to support all those that make Columbia a great place to live, work and play and offer services to those in need.”
Additionally, St. Pat’s in Five Points cannot operate without the dedication of the St. Pat’s Committee. The Five Points Association expresses their gratitude to the committee for their many, many months of hard work and commitment. The St. Pat’s Committee is comprised of leaders from within the Columbia community including:
- Silvia Butler – St. Pat’s Parade Coordinator, Community Volunteer
- Steve Cook – Chairman, President of the Five Points Association
- Bruce Crouch – Logistics Coordinator, Thoughtful Productions
- Jared Evans – Military Volunteers, Executive Director of Military and Veteran Affairs at UofSC
- Jesse Harmon – Get to the Green Race Director, Run Hard
- Mary Dell Hayes – Volunteer Coordinator, Stop Gap Solutions
- Sgt Jennifer Jordan – CPD Liaison, Special Events Coordinator of Columbia Police Department
- Trae Judy – Music Coordinator, The Rock Block
- Joe Kennedy – Irish Influence Coordinator, Ancient Order of the Hibernians
- Kim Mitchell – Pot O’Gold Playland Coordinator, City of Columbia Parks & Recreation
- Lee Porter – Military Volunteers, Military Vehicle Collectors Association
- Katy Renfroe – Sponsorships, Marketing and Festival Operations
- Becca Smith – Recycling Coordinator, Executive Director of Sustainable Midlands
- Shelia Tutwieler-Dawkins – Vendor Coordinator, Tutwieler-Dawkins, LLC
This year’s festival was sponsored by Michelob Ultra, Budweiser, Bud Light, White Claw Hard Seltzer, SweetWater Brewing Company, Miller Lite and Yuengling.
For more information on St. Pat’s in Five Points and to view photos from this year’s festival, please visit StPatsColumbia.com. You can also follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok @stpatsinfivepoints.
About St. Pat’s in Five Points
St. Pat’s in Five Points celebrates all things green and Gaelic, welcomes the arrival of spring, and promotes the businesses in the Five Points village. Our festival is also the Midlands’ largest annual street festival and the biggest one-day St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the Southeast!
St. Pat’s in Five Points was established in 1983 by Five Points merchants and other local businessmen to increase the visibility of Five Points businesses when Columbians were leaving town to go to Savannah for their week-long St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Today, the festival is put on and managed by the Five Points Association (FPA) with assistance from a committee formed by individuals within the Columbia community.
The FPA will continue to embrace its marquee event, with a focus on Irish authenticity, diverse band selection and quality special events throughout the day.
About the Five Points Association
As an advocate for the district’s businesses, the Five Points Association strives to guide development and improvements that will enhance the vitality of Five Points. The FPA also works diligently to promote Five Points to Columbia and beyond while cultivating inclusivity internally as a neighborhood. Evident by over 100 years of history, viability and recognition as an iconic locale, the success of Five Points would not be possible without the reciprocating support between the neighboring businesses, support staff, partners and companionship of the City of Columbia and Richland County.
While fostering those relationships, supporting the businesses, and continuously showcasing Five Points and its treasures, the Five Points Association and its Board of Directors continue the beautification, collaboration and development efforts to empower growth, upholding the historic legacy of Columbia’s original village neighborhood. For over 100 years, Five Points has grown, evolved and been an icon in Columbia and beyond! For nearly forty years, the Five Points Association has led remarkable endeavors and continues the legacy of priceless accomplishments.
