Staple Dunedin pub hosts traditional St. Patrick's Day fest

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Downtown Dunedin lit up with green on Sunday as crowds of people flooded the streets to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at one of the largest and oldest parties in Florida; a massive street festival hosted by Flanagan's Irish Pub.

"It's nuts, it's a great party, everyone's happy and everyone is Irish today," said Dunedin resident Mike Riley.

Words like that are music to Jason Seibert's ears. When he first moved to Dunedin, he quickly realized what a city staple Flanagan's was.

Owning it became his ultimate goal, and he knew keeping up the St. Paddy's festival tradition would come with that purchase.

"13 years ago, I owned a Yoga studio in downtown with my ex-wife, and we wound up working at Rosie's tavern as bartenders," Seibert explained. "I walked into this bar almost eight years ago with 100 bucks to my name and I said I'm gonna buy your bar, let's talk."

READ: St. Patrick's Day: Tampa celebrates Irish culture with annual River O' Green Fest

The rest is history.

Jason now owns two, both Flanagan's and Rosie's tavern. He tells FOX 13 he looks forward to making the cultural celebration bigger and better each year, with the help of local vendors, musicians, restaurants, and residents.

"We've had celebrities show up, we've had all kinds of stuff happen over the last few years, but this is about 30 years of tradition in Dunedin, and we're just really excited to keep it going," Seibert said.

"We moved to this town because of its fellowship and sense of community," Mike Ryan added. " We're so happy this is here." 

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