Get your Irish on this weekend in Oak Forest, Tinley Park

• Reprints

Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

The South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade may be dead, but there are lots of opportunities to celebrate the holiday in the Southland. Oak Forest and Tinley Park have major events planned for Saturday and Sunday where everyone can be Irish.

Saturday is Oak Forest’s second annual Fleadh (Gaelic for “festival” and pronounced flah). It will feature a parade led by former “American Idol” contestant Chris Medina and his fiancee, Juliana Ramos, both of Oak Forest.

Medina has become a celebrity since appearing on “Idol” and has recorded a single, “What Are Words,” based on his story of taking care of Ramos after she suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car crash. Medina and Ramos will ride in a convertible at the front of the parade, escorted by family and friends.

The Fleadh, sponsored by the city and the Oak Forest-Crestwood Area Chamber of Commerce, started as a pub crawl and expanded into a more family-oriented event after the South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade was canceled in 2009, Oak Forest community development director Adam Dotson said.

The event will be held along Cicero Avenue between 151st and 159th streets. From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., participating businesses will provide refreshments and entertainment. A 5K run is to start at 8:30 a.m., followed by an open bicycle ride on Cicero Avenue at 10 a.m. and the parade at 11 a.m.

The parade, which is to proceed on Cicero Avenue from 151st Street to 157th Street, also will honor Ald. Paul Wechet (7th), whose 24-year run on the city council will end in May, as he is not seeking re-election.

To wrap things up, the Fleadh has a pub and restaurant open house from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. For more information on the Fleadh, call (708) 687-4600.

Sunday is Tinley Park’s day to get in on the fun.

First up is the Running O’ the Green 8K walk-run starting at 7 a.m. at the Bettenhausen Recreation Center, 8125 W. 171st St. For more information, call (708) 342-4200.

Beginning at noon, Irish tea and other Irish treats can be sampled while browsing the exhibit at the Vogt Visual Arts Center, 17420 S. 67th Court. Revelers then can enjoy the village’s 12th annual Irish parade at 2 p.m. It starts at Central Middle School, 18146 Oak Park Ave., and travels north on Oak Park Avenue to 172nd Street.