St. Patricks day which falls on March 17th, is a holiday that is widely recognized by its bright green color and shamrock shape! In America people mostly go to a parties and engage in dancing and the consuming of traditional Irish foods, such as cabbage, stew and lots and lots of potatoes! One of the many ways we, in America, celebrate this wonderful day is by having an Irish Green river in Chicago! Every year the river is turned to a beautiful and bright irish green that many come to see! At first the the river is an orange and then the magical green appears, it’s said that leprechauns come and change the color. A few other cities have tried to make their rivers green but have failed with the magical touch! Although we celebrate this day with bright colors and fun parties this holiday has a deeper meaning than just being pinched if you lack the color green in your wardrobe that day!

Saint Patrick was a man know as “The Apostle of Ireland” and St. Patricks day is celebrated on the death date of Saint Patrick. The first publicly celebrated St. Patrick day was in 1737 in Boston, where a group of Irish immigrants lived. In 1931, almost 200 years later the first St. patricks day parade was put on in Dublin, the Irish Free State. Even though this holiday has evolved into a celebration of the Irish Heritage, many Catholics celebrate this holiday by going to mass in remembrance of Saint Patrick. Many other places around the world have joined in on this shamrock green covered day, places like Japan, New Zealand, Argentina and Canada have joined in on the celebration.

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