Harlem is getting ready to turn green with the Shamrock and Roll event on Saturday, March 18.
The event first started in 2020 and features a variety of vendors, activities and a golf cart parade. Tara McNaylor, the event chair, said it was first started as a fun way to bring businesses together and give back to the community.
“Our first year doing it was 2020, and it was very cold. It was a very small turnout,” McNaylor said. “(Then) 2021 was great. We had a big turnout, the weather was perfect, we loved it. Then 2022, we got weathered out, so we didn’t end up having it, so we’re bringing it back this year.”
This year the event will be held in the plaza in front of the Harlem Branch Library, 145 N Louisville St. This change in venue was needed due to an increase in size, McNaylor said. There are around 20 vendors expected at the event, along with a golf cart parade, bouncy house, face painting, corn hole tournament, Irish dance performance, and more.
A golf cart parade was decided on because a lot of people in Harlem driver golf carts, said Brittany Stapleton, president of the Harlem Merchants Association.
“We wanted to come up with something to engage with that, and it grew around that,” Stapleton said. “The first year we had around 50 golf carts and no idea what we were going to expect. The year before that I think we had around 70 and we make it a little fun and we have a cart decorating contests.”
McNaylor said the entry fee for the golf cart parade is $5, and participants don’t have to register in advance. They can just show up the day of and pay. Line up for the parade starts at 10 a.m. and will begin at 11 a.m. The route will go through the city before ending back at the park. The festival itself will start around noon. The event itself is free, but there are some activities that have a cost.
As for what she enjoys most about the event, McNaylor said it’s seeing the community come out and have a good time.
“(That’s) kind of what the HMA does, we plan events all year long, not only to showcase the Harlem businesses, but to invite the community out and Columbia County to see this is Harlem, we are Harlem, all we have to offer,” McNaylor said.
For Stapleton, her favorite part is the golf cart parade because of it’s uniqueness to Harlem.
Information about the event can be found on Facebook or the Harlem Merchant Association’s website.
