With St Patrick’s Day comes a parade, and with the parade comes green, white and gold decorations, floats of a wide variety, Irish dancing in the streets- oh, and lots of drinking.
But for those with Irish heritage, or those who just love the daytime celebrations, where is the best place to honour the national day?
Is it Dublin’s Temple Bar district? Is it the bright lights of the Big Apple? Or is England a sure contender for Ireland flags, Irish dancing songs and daytime drinking?
Without further ado, we present to you the best ways to celebrate St Patrick’s Day across the globe…
America’s Bright Lights
New York
Around 150,000 people march in the St Patrick’s Parade in New York City every year, drawing around 2 million spectators. The parade route takes place on 5th avenue, starting in Midtown Manhattan at 11am and finishing at 5pm!
Get into the heart of it by visiting the Irish Arts Centre for authentic music, dances, craft workshops and the chance to learn to play the tin whistle. Get your face painted with Irish emblems, or simply sit back and watch the celebration of Irish culture unfold!
If you prefer to celebrate without the crowds though, head down to lower-Manhattan for a walking tour that explores the ‘Little Ireland’ district; learning about the incredible contribution Irish immigrants made to the overall history of the city as you go.
St Louis
This year is the 54th annual St Patrick’s Day Parade in St Louis, where the area celebrates with elaborate floats, marching bands and larger-than-life helium balloons.
The festivities take place in downtown St Louis, come rain or shine! Noted as one of the top parades in the country, over 250,00 spectators regularly attend the event- filling the streets with festive green attire.
The true Celtic good times are at Llywelyn’s Pub where you’ll find an Irish menu and traditional Irish music that will have you dancing in a jig in no time. Another good after-parade stop is Maggie O’Brien’s at Market and 20th; this is the local hot spot for live music, pub theatre, St Louis sports and holiday parties.
Annapolis
The capital of Maryland takes St Patrick’s Day very seriously by dedicating a whole seven days to the celebration, calling it ‘Irish week’. Start with the Irish Hooley Party where the event usually includes an opening ceremony gala dinner, with added Irish rock.
Or head to the Shamrock Bar Crawl where a pipe band will head the group through participating pubs in town, before heading to the main parade, where you’ll see more than 90 floats from the local organisations.
Not to mention, every year dozens of volunteers gather to shave their head in solidarity for those suffering from childhood cancers. The volunteers raise money in support for the charity, plus there’s plenty of beer on hand straight after!
Brum, Where The Heritage Lies
The Irish Stamp On The Second City
As one of the most Irish populated cities in Britain, Birmingham city centre goes into celebration accordingly each year. Locals take to the streets of Digbeth to follow the parade of Irish-themed floats, dancers, and participants dressed in the finest green wigs, emerald waistcoats and leprechaun hats.
Feeling Green, Looking Green
The famous silver discs of iconic Brum building, Selfridges, turned bright green for a whole week one year to celebrate the occasion.
On its 3rd year of changing its colour to suit the celebrations, it turned shamrock shade for an entire week for the first time, making it the perfect view for parade goers as they march up Digbeth high street bearing green, white and gold attire of their own.
On Your Landmarks, Get Set, Go…
2019 was the first ever Emerald Mile fun run ahead of the St Patrick’s Day parade, which included 250 runners to kick off the festivities.
Starting at Camp Hill it lead onto Digbeth High Street and on towards the Bullring (where the city’s well-known landmark sat waiting dressed in its own Irish attire), before looping back round again.
In previous years, there have been outdoor stages in the Emerald Village and St Pat Rocks! area, where locals could find live music, a funfair, kids activities, an artisan market, street food traders and outdoor bars- with celebrations that continued into the late hours.
Sadly, due to the ongoing development of Digbeth High Street, 2023’s Digbeth St Patrick’s Day Parade has been cancelled for another year. But those who wish to mark the occasion will still be able to celebrate in local Irish pubs, with various events and themed nights still going ahead.
Capital Celebrations
Downton Dublin
As you can imagine, Dublin go big. St Patrick’s Day turns into what is better known as ’50 days o’wee fun’!
At the start of the month, Madison Street presents to you live musical performances, food vendors and rides during St Patrick’s Pig In The Park BBQ Championship!
This follows with an Arts & Crafts Festival in Downtown Dublin where artisans and food take centre stage at Market on Madison.
The parade itself means hundreds of floats take to Jackson Street and Bellevue Avenue for the ultimate celebration, where a sea of locals dressed in green, gold and white dominate the area.
Temple Bar Traditions
If you want a Dublin district guaranteed to give you an overflow of the Irish celebrations, Temple Bar will be your dream. The famous tourist stop off will be filled with day drinkers in tall leprechaun hats, fake orange beards and shamrock green outfits for the day.
Although hard to miss this sight, the annual parade cuts right through Temple Bar; so at some point through the day you will find everybody here.
If you like to stay slightly away from the madness, why not use this time to explore the local landmarks that celebrate the history of Ireland? The Guinness Factory and Old Jameson Distillery are essential spots for you to tick off your list, and make for the perfect stop off after witnessing the infamous parade.
O’Connell Street
The Irish capital’s widest street is known best as ‘the centre of Dublin’, where the glitzy Grafton Street is found on Southside O’Connell Street. The parade comes down the east side of the street, lasts a whole 2.5 kilometres and brings over 650,000 Dubliners to watch as marching bands from Ireland, Europe and the US partake in the grand affair.
If you want some variety on the day of the parade, then there’s plenty more to do; starting with the Festival Treasure Hunt. This family-friendly activity takes around an hour and 45 minutes to complete, visiting impressive Dublin landmarks along the way.
Upon completion, end the treasure hunt with a celebratory atmosphere in the City Hall with music, theatrics and prizes for the best costumes on offer!
Or if you want to get to the very heart of the celebrations with some historic knowledge, then opt for the In The Footsteps Of St Patrick Walking Tour. The company of guides and renowned Dublin historians will mean you that get to explore places that most tourists and Dubliners may miss at first glance.
So, where would you like to mark the annual Irish celebrations? Would you prefer to be in the bright lights of the Big Apple? Or is it only right to witness the parade in Ireland itself? The choice is yours!
