How do they do it , dyeing the Chicago River Green ?

The river running through Chicago gets dyed green every year for Saint Patrick’s day, many years ago when Ireland went through the historical potato  famine in the 1800’s many Irish catholic families moved over to the United States, many of them not even making it through some of the terrible conditions of the journey , those that did settled and to this day there is a huge  Irish American community in Chicago .

The dyeing process begins @ 0915 on the morning of the parade (which is always held on a Saturday) when six members of the local Plumbers Union hop aboard two boats, four of them on the larger vessel, the remaining two on a smaller boat.

The larger boat heads out onto the water first, with three members of the crew using flour sifters to spread the dye into the river. The smaller boat follows closely behind in order to help disperse the substance.

Approximately 45 minutes later, voila, the Chicago River is green! But don’t expect it to stay that way. These days, the color only sticks around for about five hours Which is roughly the same amount of time it takes to get a perfectly poured pint of Guinness if you venture out to an Irish pub on St. Patrick’s Day. (Or maybe several pints !)

Watch the video its amazing to see and anyone with just a little bit of Irish in them will get goosebumps I guarantee !!

So for tomorrow March 17th a very happy St Patricks day to one and all