Friday Fast Four: Erin Go Bragh!

St. Patrick’s Day is coming, and there are great ways to celebrate locally without drinking vast quantities of green beer or driving the snakes out of Ireland. All of these are pretty family-friendly (but please don’t give your children Guinness), and half of them are free:

1. Bring Out Your Irish

I grew up listening to The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem singing songs like “Brennan on the Moore” and “The Parting Glass.” The Makem and Spain Brothers carry on this tradition with a folky/bluesy/Celtic kind of vibe. Like Mumford & Sons? This might be right up your alley.

1. See Where the Fairies Live

Ireland is known for stories of tiny, mischievous fairies and fae. The “Small World” exhibit at Mackerel Sky in East Lansing is just the place to see the places they might live, if they were really lucky.

The show is the work of Okemos artist Nell Corkin, who has created “a collection of 1:144 scale worlds created to be entered through one's imagination.”

1. Raise a Guinness (or two)

Will The Peanut Barrel’s patio be open today? Tomorrow? Sunday? It isn’t exactly tropical around here, but hearty Michigan types have been known to bundle up and down a pint or two when it’s sunny and above 50 degrees. To insure against disappointment, it’s a safe bet that if the patio isn’t open, there’s still beer and other stuff inside.

1. Start Preparin’ for the Wearin’ o’ the Green

Create your own shamrock-bedecked T-shirt, headband, pins or Chuck Taylors for St. Patrick’s Day at the ELPL Maker Studio 2.0. Bring your own solid color t-shirt or other clothing item to decorate; other supplies are provided.