Get your shamrock on: St. Patrick’s Day events in and around Asheville

Unless you’re looking to get pinched, St. Patrick’s Day is the day for wearing green. Green shirts, green shoes, green pants — even green hair.

So put on your fake green mustache, break out your Flogging Molly tee and indulge in St. Patrick’s Day events around the area, celebrating Appalachia’s Scots-Irish heritage — and the slightly offensive stereotype of booze-loving, beer-slamming bar-goers stomping the beat for a fiddle-fronted band.

Jingle Bell Trolley Train Run rides rails Saturdays in Asheville

The Craggy Mountain Line Railroad —a nonprofit dedicated to preserving a historic 3-mile section of railroad on the Craggy Mountain Line in Buncombe County — will present the second installment of this season’s holiday-themed run on Saturday. Launched on Nov. 30, the holiday event runs every Saturday up until Christmas — Dec. 7, Dec. 14 and Dec. 21, and train rides will be offered once per hour from 4-8 p.m.

Asheville City Council: more agricultur­e, a festival search, and downtown crime

At tonight’s meeting, Asheville City Council approved new rules allowing urban farming and produce sales throughout the city. Council also approved starting the search for a summer event to replace Bele Chere. On a less optimistic note, the public and city officials discussed increasing issues of crime, policing and homelessness in Asheville’s core.