Greenville Ave News

Dallas Mavericks' Mark Cuban saves St. Patrick's Day Parade — again

Greenville Avenue St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dallas

Revelry returns to Greenville Avenue.

Photo by Jerry McClure

A sigh of relief crosses Greenville Avenue with the return of the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration. The Dallas Mavs St. Patrick's Parade & Festival, presented by the Dallas Mavericks, will commence at 11 am on March 17.

As presenting sponsor, the Dallas Mavericks will have two floats; the Mavs Express bus; Mavs dancers; mascots; and ManiAACs.

And there's more Mavs still: The Mavs Corner will be located at the CVS corner of Lovers Lane and Greenville and will showcase food trucks, exhibitors, a Mavs Retail Shop, and Mavericks' entertainers.

Much Mavs. But isn't that how it should be? Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban saved the parade from dying in ~~2017~~ 2012. Who would begrudge him a teensy, tiny bit of Mavs promotion?

The parade route starts on Greenville Avenue at Blackwell Street and ends at SMU Boulevard at Central Expressway.

Parade-goers are encouraged to ride DART as parking is extremely limited; you can get off at Mockingbird Station, Lovers Lane Station, or Park Lane Station.

Featured event spaces are open from 9 am-3 pm and include:

The Exhibitor Zone (sponsored by Buyers Barricades) will be situated at 5111 Milton St. (Office Depot/CVS) and will feature food trucks, exhibitor booths, sponsor exhibits, family friendly activities, and a VIP tailgate area.

Brew Fest will be located in the Office Depot parking lot. Presenting sponsor Good Neighbor Brews will be pouring select products on tap. Entrance to Brew Fest is free and will also feature food trucks, exhibitors, and a DJ station.

VIP Tailgate section. Access pass is available at dallasstpatricksparade.com – click VIP Tickets. Includes curbside parade route seating.

VIP Brew Fest. Access pass is $45 at dallasstpatricksparade.com and includes 2 complimentary drinks, VIP area with port-a-pots.

Don't forget the Greenville Avenue Area Business Association, which was formed in 1987 to help unify area businesses and promote the Greenville Avenue region. Its first objective is and always will be the presentation of the annual Dallas St. Patrick's Parade & Festival.

Block Party
The Greenville Commerce Association will host the companion Lower Greenville Avenue St. Patrick’s Day Block Party from 9 am-6 pm in Lower Greenville between Vanderbilt and Vickery.

The party has been a tradition on Lower Greenville for over 30 years.

Entry is $12 and includes access to three music stages located near the sponsoring bars, and wide selection of 20+ beers. Participating bars include Stan's Blue Note, The Grape, Terilli's, Dodie's Reef, Blue Goose Cantina, Halcyon, Slater's 50/50, and Dallas' oldest Irish pub, The Dubliner.

Guests must be 21 and older, and are encouraged to dress in green.

Anticipate various street closures in the area between 9 am-8 pm. Travel to the event will be provided by a free shuttle and, new this year, Lyft. The shuttle will run 11 am-5 pm from the Mockingbird DART Station directly to the block party.

For new users, Lyft will offer $5 off three rides with New User Code: SPBP, or else 25 percent off a single ride to the block party for existing users with code: SPBLOCK18.

greenville-avenue holidays

Sobering statistic

Texas ranks No. 9 among deadliest states for New Year’s crashes

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At more than 314,000 miles, Texas boasts the largest system of public roads among the 50 states. It also holds the unfortunate distinction of being one of the deadliest states for New Year’s car accidents.

An analysis of 2014-2023 traffic data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows Texas is the ninth worst state for traffic deaths on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

During the 10-year period covered by the analysis, commissioned by AutoAccident.com, Texas tallied 280 traffic deaths on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day — the highest total of any state. The 280-person toll in Texas works out to 9.61 deaths per one million residents, a rate that’s 37 percent above the national average of 6.99 deaths per one million residents.

The analysis reveals that nearly three-fourths (64 percent) of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day traffic deaths in Texas were drivers, nearly one-fifth (19 percent) were pedestrians, and 16 percent were passengers.

“New Year’s Eve is one of the most dangerous nights on American roads,” says Edward Smith, managing attorney at AutoAccident.com, a personal injury law firm.

“With impaired driving incidents spiking during holiday celebrations, every driver has a responsibility to make smart choices that protect themselves and others sharing the road,” Smith adds. “Even in states with strong safety records, one preventable death is too many.”

According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), more than 2,000 drunk driving-related crashes happened during the 2024 holiday season. Last year, December ranked as the No. 1 month in Texas for wrecks caused by drunk drivers.

“The holidays are a wonderful time to be with family, and yet they can also be a painful reminder for those who have lost loved ones to preventable crashes,” says Marc Williams, executive director of TxDOT. “Let’s make a new holiday tradition to drive like a Texan: kind, courteous, and safe. That means always getting a sober ride.”

TxDOT offers these four tips for staying safe on the roads as the calendar switches from 2025 to 2026:

Designate a sober driver before the celebrations start.
Ask a sober relative or friend to pick you up if you’re too tipsy to drive.
Use public transit or rideshare services.
Stay off the roads until you’ve sobered up.

Several organizations in Dallas-Fort Worth are offering ways to get home safely around New Year’s if you’re too drunk to drive:

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has teamed up with Coors Light to provide free rides on New Year’s Eve. To get a free ride, enter the promo code COORSNYE25 in the GoPass app. The offer is available to the first 10,500 riders who enter the code in the GoPass app.
Trinity Metro will offer free Trinity Railway Express rides in Tarrant County from 6 pm-midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Various bars and entertainment venues in Dallas County are supplying QR codes for one free Lyft ride worth up to $35. The EpicCentral entertainment district in Grand Prairie is among the participants.
In collaboration with TxDOT and the Frisco Police Department, Uber is offering $30-per-ride vouchers for people in Frisco who aren’t sober enough to drive. Frisco ranks first on Allstate’s 2025 list of the Texas cities with the best drivers.
Fort Worth Limousines provides designated-driver services in Dallas-Fort Worth via limo, luxury sedan, SUV, and bus.
Pro-Tow Wrecker Service is offering free tows to tipsy motorists in Denton County who need a ride on New Year’s Eve.

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