How to celebrate St Patrick’s Day in the office

Wondering how to celebrate St Patrick's Day in the office? Look no further.  Get your teams together for some good old Irish craic with these 5 ideas.

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner and it is a great excuse to get your teams together in the office to celebrate. Falling every year on the 17th of March, St. Patrick’s Day is Ireland’s biggest celebration, but is recognised all over the world - particularly in the UK, Canada and the USA.   

Originally, back in the 17th century, St. Patrick’s Day was a traditional Roman Catholic feast day, held to honour the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick. Since then, the celebration has evolved into a global celebration of all things culturally Irish, though many still see it as a religious calendar event.  

Why is it important to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at work? 

There are many reasons why celebrating St. Patrick’s Day is a positive thing to do in your office. Firstly, Irish heritage is something many of us have in common. It is estimated that 80 million people of Irish descent live outside the country (around 1% of the global population), with many of those residing in Great Britain, the US and Australia. And even without a claim to Irish ancestry, Irish culture is one that we’ve come to know and love across the globe. So what better way to bring your team together and create a shared experience in the workplace than in the name of St Paddy?

How to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the office?

There are plenty of great ways you can respectfully celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in your office. And while, yes, Ireland is famous for its Guinness and whiskey, it’s important not to see the event as a day purely for drinking. You run the risk of offending those who (rightfully!) see it as a much more meaningful celebration than that. 

Instead, why not try some of the following fun activities and treats to pay homage to Ireland. 

Play some Irish music. If there’s one thing Ireland does very well, it’s music. So treat your teams to a day of some of the best in Irish music by curating an office playlist. To give your teams the full Irish experience, mix and match some traditional Irish folk music (these are the addictive foot-tapping songs that use instruments like fiddles, Irish flutes, tin whistles, Celtic harps, uilleann pipes, and bodhráns) with some more contemporary hits. Ireland has churned out some incredible artists like Sinéad O'Connor, The Pogues, The Cranberries, U2, Thin Lizzy, Enya and many many more. 

Organise a potluck. You might’ve heard the phrase “the luck of the Irish”, well there’s certainly a lot of luck woven into the Celtic tradition of myths and fables. More specifically, however, an Irish “potluck” is a communal gathering where everyone brings a different (often homemade) dish. Why not get your teams to try their hand at creating some traditional Irish dishes to bring in for a big team lunch? Perhaps you could even give a prize to the lucky winner who brings along the tastiest contribution?  

Invite everyone to wear green. An easy way to get everyone into the spirit of St. Patrick’s day is to encourage everyone to wear green - the colour of Ireland’s national symbol, the shamrock. Legend has it that wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns, and it’s become an informal tradition to pinch anyone not wearing green on the day. So if you ever wanted to pinch your line manager, this is the one day you might get away with it! 

Learn about the history of the day. To give the celebration the respect it's due, it’s a great idea to hold a learning session when celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. This way, your teams understand the cultural significance and history of the day. Irish history is fascinating, so sit your teams down for an interactive discussion about history to fables and everything in between.  

Get some tasty St. Patrick’s Day treats in. To accompany your celebrations, why not treat your teams to some of CakeDrop’s decadent St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes? Beautifully decorated, these freshly-baked chocolate cupcakes are topped with vanilla buttercream, shamrocks and a chocolate gold coin at the end of an edible rainbow. They’re an easy way to wow your teams, as they taste every bit as good as they look. 

 

Here at CakeDrop, we can help your company celebrate any occasion - from cultural holidays to work anniversaries and everything in between. If you’d like to find out more about how to celebrate St Patricks Day in the office with some crowd-pleasing goodies, get in touch with a member of our team today.