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I just realized that the state championship will be played on the same night as Lucky Palooza, the St. Paddy's Day drunk fest where West 7th street is entirely blocked off with thousands of people.

Does anyone else think this will be a total disaster?

yes

Sent them an email asking them why?

I will let you know if they respond.

I just looked it up to confirm, that is true. What HORRIBLE planning. Good idea....have HS kids around that. I'm not dumb, and realize kids aren't immune to stuff, but a bad mixture. Why wouldn't it just be on the 18th? Asking for trouble - more trouble than it already is.

Sounds like the bars are going to be a disaster to get a seat at, even more so than they already are for the Tourney. Yuck.

gitter wrote:Sounds like the bars are going to be a disaster to get a seat at, even more so than they already are for the Tourney. Yuck.

I wouldn't even try on Saturday. Those bars are packed wall to wall with people during Lucky Palooza when the tourney isn't happening at the same time. It will be a circus over there.

You will want to go to http://www.visitsaintpaul.com/contact-us/ and voice your opinion.

I understand nothing will happen but at least be a thorn in their side. I realized over the holidays and wrote in. An incredibly poor idea. Could not believe it when I noticed and still can't believe it.

I can't imagine what could *possibly* go wrong here.

Having partaken in both events, mixing them sounds...very very not smart.

I'm thinking there could be an octopus thrown on the ice during the championship game....maybe a streaker or two as well. GB

Got a response from them:

"Thank you for your email concerning the busy March 11 that is coming in 2017. As organizer of the LuckyPalooza event, I wanted to respond in a timely manner.

You are correct, the LuckyPalooza St. Patrick’s Day kickoff event and the MSHSL Hockey Championship both fall on March 11.

There will indeed be a lot of traffic this day and we will do our best to provide information on ways to get into the city safely and in a timely manner. We work closely with the Xcel Energy Center year round on big events and especially on busy days like March 11.

Last year, the Red Bull Crashed Ice Championships fell on the same day as the MSHSL Wrestling Championships and there were no significant issues given nearly identical footprints to the LuckyPalooza event – Crashed Ice is actually a larger event.

I can assure you that security, both SPPD and private third party, make up more than half of the total budget for the event. We take underage drinking seriously and will do everything in our power to not allow it. However, we cannot be held responsible for unmonitored high school kids in hotels.

I don’t foresee any issues on the hotels as most of our hotels do require a multi night stay during the tournaments and most people attending LuckyPalooza won’t take a 3 night stay just for March 11th. They tend to come just for the day as evidenced by the 6500 free rides given by Metro Transit for the event.

I choose to look at the opportunity as a way to show a lot of out of town hockey fans how Minnesota’s capital city celebrates its Irish heritage and I hope those who are of age get to enjoy the revelry in the street not to mention the Red Bull athlete activation, music and food. I don’t foresee any negative impacts on businesses.

While I appreciate your concern, we will not be moving the event in 2017.

Thank you for your inquiry and please let me know if you have any additional concerns."

If you don't see me at the championship game start checking alleys and dumpsters please

Response

"the LuckyPalooza St. Patrick’s Day kickoff event and the MSHSL Hockey Championship both fall on March 11.

There will indeed be a lot of traffic this day and we will do our best to provide information on ways to get into the city safely and in a timely manner. We work closely with the Xcel Energy Center year round on big events and especially on busy days like March 11.

Last year, the Red Bull Crashed Ice Championships fell on the same day as the MSHSL Wrestling Championships and there were no significant issues given nearly identical footprints to the LuckyPalooza event – Crashed Ice is actually a larger event.

I can assure you that security, both SPPD and private third party, make up more than half of the total budget for the event. We take underage drinking seriously and will do everything in our power to not allow it. However, we cannot be held responsible for unmonitored high school kids in hotels.

I don’t foresee any issues on the hotels as most of our hotels do require a multi night stay during the tournaments and most people attending LuckyPalooza won’t take a 3 night stay just for March 11th. They tend to come just for the day as evidenced by the 6500 free rides given by Metro Transit for the event.

I choose to look at the opportunity as a way to show a lot of out of town hockey fans how Minnesota’s capital city celebrates its Irish heritage and I hope those who are of age get to enjoy the revelry in the street not to mention the Red Bull athlete activation, music and food. I don’t foresee any negative impacts on businesses.

While I appreciate your concern, we will not be moving the event in 2017."

Apparently a canned response for a lot of people with questions.

Well, they do respond quickly and seem to cover all the bases.
Hope everything works out well and everyone has fun.

I followed up asking why not the 18th.

"The restaurants on the two blocks pay for it and they have been celebrating St. Pat’s for a number of years They have the historical data to back up the importance of having it the Saturday before the actual St. Pat’s Day. Once the actual day passes, the interest dwindles.

Next year it will be on St. Pat’s Day as the 17th is a Saturday then it will go back to the Saturday before and continue in that pattern.

Honestly, Saint Paul has hosted some of the biggest events in the history of events and have a strong track record of success. While there will be congestion, it will be a tremendous day in Saint Paul."

We shall see I suppose.

Green4. While I'd like to say I have your back...my advice is a visit to the cathedral before your activities begin may be the best course of action. GB

Has this event always been the weekend before St Patrick's Day and this just happens to be the first time it has ever landed on the same day as the hockey finals?

elliott70 wrote:Response

"...
Last year, the Red Bull Crashed Ice Championships fell on the same day as the MSHSL Wrestling Championships and there were no significant issues given nearly identical footprints to the LuckyPalooza event – Crashed Ice is actually a larger event.

I can assure you that security, both SPPD and private third party, make up more than half of the total budget for the event. We take underage drinking seriously and will do everything in our power to not allow it. However, we cannot be held responsible for unmonitored high school kids in hotels.

...

While I appreciate your concern, we will not be moving the event in 2017."

Apparently a canned response for a lot of people with questions.

When you are comparing the state wrestling tournament to the state hockey tournament, you seem to not know what you're talking about. Comparing the LuckyPalooza to Crashed ice also seems like a less than stellar comparison.

The idea should be to prevent things from happening with mixing minors and your event, not have lots of security to handle things when they do happen