Saint Patrick's Day Celebrations Around The World

Irish Americans form a major ethnic group in Chicago and there you can see one of the best St. Patrick's day celebrations in world. Shamrocks, green colored decorations, parties and green colored food can be seen almost everywhere, especially in major cities on St. Patrick's day. However, Chicago may be the only place where you can see a green colored river on this day, a tradition that started in 1962. The river is colored green using eco friendly vegetable dyes.  I lived in Chicago for almost three years and I have seen the celebrations including the St. Patrick's day parades and how people enjoy this day. It is not just the Irish people there, but the non Irish also celebrate the day by wearing green and organizing parties. However, I have never seen the green river on St. Patrick's Day, I missed it somehow and I regret it now. Here you can see the image of Chicago river during the festival and the picture is from Wikimedia Commons Image.

Celebrations in and around Ireland are watched all over the world every year. In Dublin, Ireland, large scale celebrations are carried out each year with different programs along with the traditional St. Patrick's day parades. Along with the cultural events and parades and other entertainments, they also conduct tours to churches and other historic places. Story telling events are also carried out mostly for children. In March 17, 2013, they had one of the most successful celebrations till date. The students from the Blackrock college and Willow Park Schools in Dublin set a world record by forming the largest human shamrock by arranging themselves in the form of a shamrock clover, you can watch the You Tube video here!

In London, you can see great celebrations every year on St. Patrick's Day including parades and other events with displays of art, Irish music and dance. In 2014, the celebrations are supposed to take place in Trafalgar Square and the theme for this year's celebration is 'World Of Dance'.

Other places in America that are worth mentioning are New York City and Boston. They have many Irish immigrants and the celebrations take place in large scale. It is in New York City that you can see the largest St. Patrick's day parade in the world with about 150,000 people participating in the parade.

It is in Hot Springs, Arkansas that the shortest St. Patrick's Day parade in world is carried out. The parade goes through the historically important Bridge Street which is 98 feet long.