Next week is spring break so the girls and I (along with a few other girls) are heading to Kansas City to celebrate the big day. We’ll get a great Irish Breakfast at Raglan Road Irish Pub, take their shuttle to the parade, come back for live music and spend a bit of time at the Irish Museum and Cultural Center in Union Station.
Because few of us will actually get to celebrate in Ireland I wanted to take a look at what is going on around the US. Here’s what I found:
Boston, MA Last year we spent 3 months in Boston and my main “must see” was the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. You can read about it here. This year’s parade is on Sunday, March 14. For more on the Irish in Boston see this article I wrote for Uptake.
New York City, NY The parade runs up 5th Avenue from 44th to 86th streets beginning at 11am on St. Patrick’s Day. This is its 249th consecutive year. An estimated 250,000 people will march in the parade and up to 2 million will be on hand to see them.
New Orleans,LA Parties are big business in the Big Easy- I found 5 different parades to celebrate the wearin’ o’ the green.
Savannah,GA This was once the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the country. It begins with Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and begins after Mass at 10:15.
Chicago, IL The Chicago river turns green for the celebration on Saturday morning and the parade is the same day (March 13) beginning at noon. Why not take a cruise on the green river if you’re there?
St.Paul, MN My old home town prepares for almost a month for St. Patrick’s Day. Dinners, Irish Tenor contests, nursing home & community center tours and a crowning of Miss Shamrock all take place before the big day. Mass is said at the Cathedral of St. Paul at 9am and the parade begins at noon on St. Patrick’s Day. The following Sunday is the golf tournament.
Des Moines, IA The parade begins at noon on March 17 from 15th to Locust, then down Locust to the Embassy Suites and a post parade celebration. Irish dancers will be performing at the Des Moines Historical Building at 1:45 and 2:30.
San Francisco, CA A day-long celebration of all things Irish! From 10am – 5pm; parade at 11:30. More information can be found here.
Butte, MT Locals call Butte “Ireland’s Fifth Province”. Irish settled here to work in the mines and now hosts the largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Montana. In fact, other Montana cities offer shuttles for their residents to join the fun! Events begin on Monday March 15. The parade is on March 17 beginning at 11am.
Hot Springs, AR The world’s shortest street hosts the shortest parade beginning at 1pm on Saturday, March 13.
Near you. Of course every pub turns Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. Does your city hold a parade or celebration? Share your information in the comments.
raleigh north carolina gets very festive as well. here is a ink to check out their irish festivities
http://www.raleighstpats.org/
Thanks for the link, Jenn!
Great article. I didn’t know about some of these. Tucson has a pretty nice parade: http://www.tucsonstpatricksday.com/ but nothing compares to being in Dublin!