FEATURED LINKS:

Esthetic Professionals

Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery

Woodland Hills Ice Skating

Embassy Suites Hotel - Mandalay Beach Resort - Oxnard

www.sailingcat.co

Highland Hall Waldorf School - Children are not rushed, but encouraged

A unique medi-spa specializing in Botox, Lasers, LipoSlim, IPL, Fillers and cosmetic surgery
www.dermatiqueskinspa.com 

Dr Kerner'
Specializing in Head and Neck Surgery, Sinus Surgery, Sleep Apnea and Facial Cosmetic Surgery www.Marckernermd.com 

TO FLY L.A.
16303 Waterman Drive
Van Nuys, CA 91406
877.863.5952
www.toflyla.com

EEG INSTITUTE
22020 Clarendon St. Suite 305
Woodland Hills, CA
818.373.1EEG (1334)
www.eeginstitute.com

St. Patrick's Day
By Jonathon Freeman-Anderson

St. Patrick's Day, traditionally an Irish-based holiday has evolved since its creation to be an annually celebrated part of pop culture tradition. St. Patrick's Day has become the late winter, early spring festival of lights…light green beer, that is. Therefore, now, across the world, let alone in the better part of Great Britain, and the continental U.S., the shamrock fan fair has become an engrained opportunity for people to gather, debatably consume copious amounts of green-colored, sometimes mint-flavored, beverages, and pinch. Most people consume some sort of green alcohol, but McDonald's is offering a triple-thick shamrock shake alternative, with flavoring reminiscent of mint toothpaste.

Remember the long-lived honorable tradition of pinching prude, fuddy-duddy, non-holiday participants who deem it their duty to be every holiday's Scrooge: No green attire, pinchers will conspire. Actually, according to The Wearing of the Green: A History of St. Patrick's Day, green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. The phrase "the wearing of the green," meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from the song of the same name.

Since the 1990s, Irish leaders have sometimes attended special functions either on Saint Patrick's Day or a day or two earlier, in the White House, where they present a shamrock to the President of the United States. A similar presentation is made to the Speaker of the House. In recent years, it is common for the entire Irish government to be abroad representing the country in various parts of the world. In 2003, the President of Ireland celebrated the holiday in Sydney, while other Irish government members attended ceremonies in New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Buffalo, San Jose, Savannah, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Diego, New Zealand, Argentina, Hong Kong, South Africa, Korea, Japan, Brazil, and Malaysia.

Besides, Ireland, the holiday is heavily appreciated in Argentina, Canada, the rest of Great Britain, Montserrat, New Zealand, Uruguay, and throughout the United States with parades, parties, and festivities galore.

In Argentina, and especially in Buenos Aires, all-night long parties are celebrated in designated streets, since the weather is comfortably warm in March. People dance and drink only beer throughout the night, until seven or eight in the morning, and although the tradition of mocking those who do not does not exist in Argentina, most people would wear something green.

The longest-running, uninterrupted, Saint Patrick's Day parade in Canada and North America occurs each year in Montreal, the flag of which has a shamrock in one of its corners. The parades have been held in continuity since 1824. However, St. Patrick's Day itself has been celebrated in Montreal as far back as 1759 by Irish soldiers in the Montreal Garrison following the British conquest of New France. According to TheWildGeese.com, in 2005, more than 300,000 turned out to enjoy Montreal's 181st St. Patrick's Day Parade.

In 2004, the CelticFest Vancouver Society organized an annual festival in downtown Vancouver to celebrate the Celtic Nations and their culture. This event, which includes a parade, occurs the weekend closest to St. Patrick's Day. For more information, go to celticfestvancouver.com.

In Toronto from 1919 to 1927, the Toronto Maple Leafs was known as the Toronto St. Patricks, and wore green jerseys. In 1999 when the Leafs played on Hockey Night in Canada (national broadcast of the NHL) on St. Patrick's Day, the Leafs wore the green St. Pats retro jersey. There is a large parade in the Toronto's downtown core that attracts over 100,000 spectators.

Guinness is lobbying to make Saint Patrick's Day a federal (national) holiday. If interested in signing a petition to help make March 17, St. Patrick's Day, a national holiday, go to proposition317.com. However, you must be 21 or older to sign.

London, since 2002, has had an annual Saint Patrick's Day parade that takes place on weekends around the 17th, usually in Trafalgar Square. In 2008, the water in the Trafalgar Square fountains was dyed green.

Liverpool with its geographical location as a major port leading to the Irish Sea has the largest per-capita Irish population of any English city. This has led to a long-standing celebration on St Patrick's Day in terms of music, cultural events, and the parade.

Swearing to be the biggest outside of Dublin and New York, based on entrant and float numbers, Manchester hosts a two-week Irish festival in the weeks prior to their massive St Patrick's Day parade. The festival includes an Irish Market based at the city's town hall that flies the Irish tricolor opposite the Union Flag, as well as a large number of cultural and learning events throughout the two-week period. The festival promotes itself as the largest in the UK. For more information, go to manchesteririshfestival.co.uk.

The tiny island of Montserrat, known as "Emerald Island of the Caribbean" due to its foundation by Irish refugees from Saint Kitts and Nevis, is the only place in the world apart from Ireland and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador in which St Patrick's Day is a public holiday. The holiday commemorates a failed slave uprising that occurred on March 17, 1798.

As in Australia, in New Zealand, Saint Patrick's Day is widely celebrated. It is tradition for people to wear green items of clothing, and the streets are often filled with revelers drinking and making merry from early afternoon until late at night. As many people in New Zealand are of Irish descent, it is widely seen as a day to celebrate individual links to Ireland and all things Irish. The Irish have made a large impact to New Zealand's social, political and education systems, as they immigrated in large numbers to the country during the 1800s. Saint Patrick's Day is seen as a way of remembering the impact the Irish has made on New Zealand today. Parades and celebrations are common, although it is not a public holiday.

In Uruguay, celebrated in Montevideo and Punta Del Este, people celebrate St. Patrick's Day because the weather in March is warm. Most people wear something green. Irish music is played in Bartolome Mitre Street and Sarandi Street, downtown Montevideo, where there are several Irish pubs. For more information, go to theshannon.com.uy.

In the U.S., the White House fountain was dyed green in celebration of Saint Patrick's Day on March 17, 2009. Irish Society of Boston organized what was the first Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the colonies on March 17, 1737. According to brainyhistory.com, the first celebration of Saint Patrick's Day in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1766. New York held its first official Saint Patrick's Day Parade on March 17, 1762 by Irish soldiers in the British Army. In 1780, according to the Irish American Cultural Institute, General George Washington, who commanded soldiers of Irish descent in the Continental Army, allowed his troops a holiday on March 17, "as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence." This event became known as The St. Patrick's Day Encampment of 1780.

Today, Saint Patrick's Day is widely celebrated in the United States by Irish and non-Irish alike. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-colored clothing and items. BBC.com confirms that, traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched, usually affectionately.

Seattle and other cities paint the traffic stripe of their parade routes green. Chicago dyes its river green and has done so since 1961 when sewer workers used green dye to check for sewer discharges and got the idea to turn the river green for St. Patrick's Day. According to MSN.com, the green dye only lasts a few hours. Indianapolis also dyes its main canal green. Savannah dyes its downtown city fountains green. Missouri University of Science and Technology, St Pat's Board Alumni, paint 12 city blocks Kelly green with mops before the annual parade. In Jamestown, New York, the Chadakoin River (a small tributary that connects Conewango Creek with its source at Chautauqua Lake) is dyed green each year.

In Savannah, Georgia, the parade organizers have claimed an expected attendance of around 400,000. The parade travels through Savannah's Historic District. For more information, go to savannahsaintpatricksday.com.

Perhaps the smallest notable parade "World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade," is said to take place in Hot Springs, Arkansas in the United States. The parade is annually held on historic Bridge Street, which became famous in the 1940s when Ripley's "Believe It or Not" designated it "The Shortest Street in the World." For more information, go to hotsprings.org/festival_events/stpat_parade.asp.

In the city of Syracuse, NY, Saint Patrick's celebrations are traditionally begun with the delivery of green beer to Coleman's Irish Pub on the first Sunday of March. Coleman's is located in the Tipperary Hill section of the city. Tipperary Hill is home to the World famous "Green-on-Top" Traffic Light and is historically the Irish section in Syracuse. Saint Patrick's Day is rung in at midnight with the painting of a Shamrock under the Green-Over-Red traffic light. Syracuse boasts the largest St. Patrick's Day celebration per-capita in the United States with their annual Syracuse St. Patrick's Parade.

The New York parade has become the largest Saint Patrick's Day parade in the world. According to the Associated Press, in a typical year, 150,000 marchers participate in it, including bands, firefighters, military and police groups, county associations, emigrant societies, and social and cultural clubs, and 2 million spectators line the streets. The parade marches up 5th Avenue in Manhattan and is always led by the U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment.

Holyoke, Massachusetts was the site of massive Irish immigration in the 19th Century, and hosts a Parade its organizers claim is the second largest in the United States. According to the Associated Press, the parade is scheduled on the Sunday following St. Patrick's Day each year. Attendance exceeds 300,000, with over 25,000 marchers, through a 2.3-mile route in this city of 40,000. A 10K road Race and many events create a remarkable festival weekend. Each year an Irish-American who has distinguished himself or herself in their chosen profession is awarded the John F. Kennedy National Award. JFK was a National Award Winner in the 1958 Holyoke Parade. Other winners include author Tom Clancy, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, and actor Pat O'Brien. For more information, go to newsite.holyokestpatricksparade.com.

In Scranton, Pennsylvania, participation in St. Patrick's Day festivities is one of the oldest and most populated parades in the United States. It has been going on annually since 1862 by the St. Patrick's Day Parade Association of Lackawanna County and the parade has gotten attention nationally as being one of the better St. Patrick's Day parades. Scranton hosts the third largest St. Patrick's Day Parade in the United States. In 2008, up to 150,000 people attended the parade.

Seattle's St. Patrick's Day Parade, recognized by CNN in 2009 as one of the "Five places to get your green on" in America, travels along a 1-mile route through the Emerald City's downtown financial and retail core the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. Seattle's St. Patrick's Day Celebration is the largest and oldest in the Northwestern United States. In 2009, some 20,000 spectators and groups from throughout the Northwest turned out for the city's Irish shenanigans.

In 2010 The Right Honorable Desmond Guinness, a direct descendant of Guinness Brewery founder Arthur Guinness will serve as the Seattle parade's grand marshal. In 2009, The Tonight Show's Conan O'Brien made a guest appearance at the annual Mayor's Proclamation Luncheon at local Irish haunt F.X. McCrory's. Moreover, in 2008, European Union Ambassador to the U.S. and former Irish Prime Minister John Bruton served as the parade's grand marshal and marched alongside Tom Costello, the mayor of Galway, Seattle's Irish sister city.

The Southern Nevada, (formerly Las Vegas) Sons of Erin have put on a parade since 1966. It was formerly held on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, later moved to 4th street. Since 2005, the parade has been held in downtown Henderson. It is one of the biggest parades in the state of Nevada. It also consists of a three-day festival, carnival, and classic car show in Old Town Henderson. This year, 2010, the parade will be on March 13. For more info go to www.snsoe.com.

Rolla, Missouri is home to the Missouri University of Science & Technology (formerly known as University of Missouri-Rolla, and Missouri School of Mines), an engineering college. St. Patrick is the patron saint of engineers, and the school and town's celebrations last for a week or more, with a downtown parade held the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. A royal court is crowned, and the streets in the city's downtown area are painted solid green. In 2008, Rolla celebrated its 100th St. Patrick's Day celebration.

The Los Angeles Dodgers also have a history with the Irish-American community. With the O'Malley family owning the team and now Frank McCourt, the Dodgers have had team celebrations or worn green jerseys on St. Patrick's Day. Find St. Patrick's Day green Dodgers jerseys for sale at dodgers.auction.mlb.com. The Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies also wear St. Patrick's Day caps and jerseys. Other teams celebrate by wearing Kelly green hats. These teams include the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the New York Mets, the San Diego Padres, the Atlanta Braves, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Kansas City Royals, the Seattle Mariners, and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Washington Nationals have fan green hat day on September 17 to represent 6 months to St. Patrick's Day. Nearly all major league baseball teams now produce St. Patrick's day merchandise, including Kelly green hats, jerseys, and t-shirts, available at mlb.com.shop.

Between March 15 and 17th of 2009, a number of NBA teams wore green jerseys in recognition of St. Patrick's Day including the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, and Dallas Mavericks. The Boston Celtics, whose home jersey is green, wore a specially designed green and gold jersey.

When it comes to St. Paddy's Day, some people are very religious, attending mass on March 17, eat corned-beef-and-cabbage, others play into the mass cultural party appeal of the holiday and hunt down green beer, snow-cones or food. Green food dye becomes practically non-existent on store shelves in mid-March. Celebrations can be conservative or liberal in their undertaking, but please be sensible, drink responsibly, and please, no pinching in malice.

back to top