Bands announced for St. Pat’s in Five Points festival. Check out the four headliners

Columbia’s Five Points is getting ready to go green once again.

St. Pat’s in Five Points, the annual St. Patrick’s Day weekend festival that is one of the biggest one-day events on Columbia’s calendar, is set for Saturday, March 18. More than 30,000 people typically attend St. Pat’s in Five Points each year, and the 2023 edition of the festival is set to have 20 musical acts across four stages.

Festival organizers on Thursday announced four headliners for this year’s St. Pat’s bash: Long-running Atlanta-based folk rockers Drivin N Cryin, indie rock darlings Hippo Campus, festival circuit favorites Moon Taxi and Nashville artist Nate Smith.

Other bands set to play the festival on March 18 include Doom Flamingo, Stop Light Observations, George Fetner and the Strays, Ryan Monroe and Josh Roberts, Opus and the Frequencies, The Brook & The Bluff, flipturn, Sam Burchfield, Rex Darling, Travis Denning, 49 Winchester, Drayton Farley, Villa*Nova, Stagbriar, Easy Honey, and E.Z. Shakes.

Columbia rapper FatRat da Czar will be the host of this year’s festival.

“We’re excited for the amazing line up of bands that will grace our four festival stages,” Five Points Association board president Steve Cook said in a statement. “Villa*Nova is for the nostalgia-seekers who come back year after year — while Nate Smith will draw the country-music lovers out to enjoy the festival.”

This will be the 41st St. Pat’s in Five Points festival. General admission tickets to the festival can be purchased online at stpatscolumbia.com for $25 in advance until March 17. Tickets at the gate the day of the event will be $30.

In addition to the numerous music acts, there will, as always, be other events connected to St. Pat’s in Five Points.

The Get to the Green 5K, 10K and 1-Mile Family Fun Run starts at 7:30 a.m. March 18. Registration is now open at stpatscolumbia.com/get-to-the-green. And the annual St. Pat’s Parade will be at 10 a.m. that day, beginning on Devine Street and proceeding down to Sims Avenue.

“For more than four decades, St. Pat’s in Five Points has been a pinnacle in our community,” Five Points Association Director Heather McDonald said in a statement. “We work hard throughout the year to make sure the music lineup is eclectic and something everyone can enjoy — from indie rock and alternative, to country and Americana, there’s something for everyone at St. Pat’s.”

St. Pat’s in Five Points was called off in both 2020 and 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic but returned in 2022 with a lineup that included bands such as Blues Traveler and Surfaces. As the festival heads into 2023, Cook said he thinks it is finding its stride once again.

“Last year we were kind of reviving the festival, and it was really important because of the impact it makes on the community,” Cook told The State following Thursday morning’s announcement. “This year our team put a really good (band) lineup together and, honestly, I’m excited about it.”

This marks the first St. Pat’s in Five Points festival since McDonald took the helm at the Five Points Association. She has been in that role for about five months.

She said the annual festival is vital for the more than century-old hospitality district and its merchants’ association.

“It’s the basis for what we do year-round,” she said. “It helps (the association) function and gives us an opportunity to give back to the community.”

Five Points Association officials said the merchants’ group has donated about $1 million to various Midlands charities through the years.

Columbia City Councilman Will Brennan, whose District 3 includes much of Five Points, said St. Pat’s in Five Points “truly is the premier St. Pat’s festival in the Southeast.”

“It has grown to be a huge economic and philanthropic engine for our city,” Brennan said of the more than four-decade-old festival during Thursday’s announcement event.