Today is St. Patrick’s Day, a holiday synonymous with drinking, the Irish and absent college students.

Bars around the city have been preparing, most for the last two days, for the holiday inspired by the Irish saint.

“We’ve been preparing for St. Patrick’s Day since Monday,” Jerry Neverve, owner of Red Lyon Tavern, 944 Massachusetts St., said. “It’s our biggest day of the year. It’s really our Christmas.”

Establishments around the city, such as Red Lyon Tavern, will open doors early and will stay open late into the night.

The holiday celebrates the day that the patron saint drove all serpents out of Ireland. The custom was first celebrated in America in 1737.

For college students, the holiday is just an excuse to consume intoxicating libations. The perennial standard drink for the holiday is Guinness.

Jason Supernaw bartends yesterday afternoon at the Red Lyon, 944 Massachusetts St., while employees buzz around him to decorate for St. Patrick's Day. Jerry Neverve, the bar’s owner, plans to fill the bar at capacity. “It's going to be at 101 all day,” he said. Neverve has the back bar set up and bagpipers are coming in for the celebration.

“It’s not really our special for St. Patrick’s Day,” Elliot Reeder, bartender for Louise’s Bar Downtown, 1009 Massachusetts St., said. “But I know we are going to sell a lot.”

Guinness will be one of the most popular beers sold tonight for the Red Lyon Tavern, Neverve said. The bar will be one of the top sellers of the Irish beer in the state, selling about 10 kegs, Neverve said.

“I’m Irish, so I can smell out a Guinness from far away,” Drew Conley, Wichita senior, said.

Guinness in a glass, bottle or can will not be the only forms of the beer that will be consumed tonight. Students can also try it in Irish car bombs or other concoctions mixed by a bartender.

“Every year back home we would start with a Jager bomb and finish the night with an Irish car bomb,” Kevin Norris, Kansas City, Mo., freshman, said. “I think I’ll get someone to help me continue the tradition.”

Other than the flow of Guinness, festive green beer will make a run for the most-ordered beverage. Nearly every bar in town will have its little bottle of food coloring behind the bar. But some bars will not put forth as much effort preparing for the holiday because of their locations.

“We’ll be able to give customers green beer if they want it,” Tom Conroy, owner of Conroy’s Pub, 3115 W. Sixth St. “We’re not really going to do much. We’ve tried to do stuff in the past but everyone seems to go downtown.”