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

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.