Sure, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t until Monday, but since most of the people that will be celebrating the event are not Irish and are just looking for a reason to wear lots of green and act irresponsibly, that means the bars of America will be full of shamrock-faced revelers for the next few days, to the tune of more than a quarter of a billion dollars.

Over at DealNews, writer Lou Carlozo takes a look at a number of St. Patrick’s-related money stats.

There’s the National Retail Federation’s estimate of a total of $4.8 billion that will be spent by folks for all things related to their celebration of the patron saint of Ireland.

And nearly 92% of people say they’ll be doing something for the holiday, so that comes out $39 a person for those who actually plan to spend money and $36/person overall, according to the NRF.

That $4.8 billion — up 2% from last year — includes all expenses, whether it’s a wool sweater, a pair of green sequined booty shorts, and of course… beer.

More than 30% of St. Patrick’s partygoers will be doing so at a bar, with another 20.6% celebrating at private parties. Those folks will spend an estimated $255 million on beer alone — accounting for approximately 1% of annual retail beer and liquor sales.

To those who do choose to celebrate this weekend, please do so safely and responsibly. And please, try to refrain from puking in the planter next to my stoop. That’s just not cool.

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