Saturday, April 17, 2010

St Patrick's Day in Chicago

I should say St Patrick's Day weekend.... I'm not sure many people in Chicago actually know that St Patrick's Day is on the 17th March every year and is on a Wednesday not the Saturday that all the celebrations are on.

Anyways.... The city goes crazy. Everyone is Irish. Or Chi-rish as they like to call themselves. Now obviously I guess having lived in Belfast for 3 years I have a different view of St Paddy's day celebrations than your average American, but still.... you are not Irish if a distant five times removed relative knew someone who was Irish. So there.

I ventured out on an appropriately soggy Saturday to see what all the fuss was about, and specifically to see the river dyed green. Yes, you heard right, they fill the river with green dye.. apparently it was the mayor's idea.


Literally everyone in Chicago is wearing leprechaun green and it's next to impossible to get into a pub. Everyone also seemed hammered and it was only 11am. They also have a parade in Grant Park, which I only caught the tail end of.

Either way it's quite the spectacle and probably worth seeing if you are in the area on St Paddy's Day. http://www.chicagostpatsparade.com/


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