St Patrick's Day Destinations

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by a number of nations worldwide generally on the 17th of March to commemorate Saint Patrick, one of the legendary patron saints of Ireland. To the Irish and Irish at heart, St. Patrick's Day is the most festive event, celebrated in large cities and small towns with parades, music, Irish food and drink, parades, fun activities for children and most importantly, "the wearing of green". Though St. Patrick's Day was originally celebrated by people of Irish decent, today the event is becoming increasingly popular among people of other ethnic backgrounds, particularly in New Zealand, Argentina, and North America. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated as one of the most festive holidays in Ireland, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Montserrat, New Zealand, Uruguay and the United States.

In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day was initially celebrated as a religious holiday until it was made a public holiday in 1903. The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in the Irish Free State in 1931 during the time the Minister of defense, Desmond Fitzgerald was serving. In the mid 1990s the Irish Government devised a strategy to use St. Patrick's Day to showcase and celebrate Irish culture. The government established the St. Patrick's Day festival to spread excitement throughout Ireland, encourage people of Irish decent and Irish at heart to attend the celebrations and to communicate to the world, the image of Ireland as a creative, proficient and sophisticated country. In 1996, the first St. Patrick's Day festival was held. It became a three day event in 1997, a four day event by 2000 and ultimately by 2006 it was five days long. Apart from Dublin, other towns and villages that hold their own parades and festivals, include Belfast, Cork, Derry, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Waterford. Downpatrick, of County Down, sees the biggest celebrations, besides Dublin, where St. Patrick is rumored to be buried after his death in 461.

Argentina sees the celebration of St. Patrick's Day with night long parties in select streets until eight in the morning. The celebration is particularly popular in downtown street Reconquista, Buenos Aires where there are a number of Irish pubs such as the Matias Irish Pub.

St. Patrick's Day parades and celebrations have been held in Canada since 1824. The most festive and longest parade in Canada occurs in Montreal, the flag of which has the symbol of a shamrock in one of its corners. The Irish Association of Manitoba, runs the annual three day festival based around St. Patrick's Day. In Vancouver, the annual festival is celebrated with parades and other events in the weekend closest to St. Patrick's Day. The St. Patrick's Day celebration and parade in Toronto attracts over 100,000 spectators. There are many Irish pubs in Canada such as Alberta's Calgary Irish pub, Edmonton Irish pubs, Vancouver's Irish Heather, Montreal's McLean's pub and Manitoba's Shannons Irish pub.

In Great Britain, the Queen Mother used to present bowls of Shamrock from Ireland to members of the Irish guards. The Irish guards continue to wear shamrock from Ireland on this day. The horse racing at the Cheltenham Festival, attracts a large number of Irish people worldwide. Beside Dublin and New York, Birmingham hold's the third biggest parade of the world, spreading over two miles through the city centre. St. Patrick's Day parade is usually held in Trafalgar square, on a weekend closest to the 17th. Other places that celebrate St. Patrick's Day include Liverpool, Manchester, Coatbridge and Glasgow. Hennessey's Bar, Waxy O'Connors, London Irish Centre and The Spanish arch are some of the Irish pubs in Great Britain.

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in the United States by Irish and non Irish alike. Many cities including Seattle paint the traffic stripes green while Chicago, Jamestown and Indianapolis dye their water streams green. Many parades mark the event of St. Patrick's Day in the United States in places such as Savannah, Hot Springs, New York City, Seattle and Las Vegas. There are many Irish pubs in the US such as Hawaii's Mulligans on the Blue, New York's Flannery's Irish Pub and A Piece of Ireland, Delaware.

St. Patrick's Day is also widely celebrated in Montserrat, Australia and Uruguay in regions with many Irish pubs. Celebrated by Christians and non Christians alike, St. Patrick's Day is one of the biggest and most festive celebrations of the world. Though the holiday remains primarily a religious observance, especially in Ireland, the outward celebration of the event is enjoyed by all.