In some cities, it’s not St. Patrick’s Day without the parade. We have one in Des Moines, but (gasp) I’ve never been. Ours is small potatoes compared to some of these – here are 10 parades that happen around the world, from Dublin to South Korea, from the biggest to the shortest.
1. New York is home to the longest-running St. Patrick’s Day parade not just in the U.S., but anywhere. The parade had meager beginnings in 1762, with a group of Irish soldiers serving in the English military who decided to march through the streets to celebrate their heritage. It grew a bit every year and various Irish groups started assembling their own marches throughout the city. In 1848, a bunch of them decided to get together and form one big march, which eventually became the parade we know today. What started with a handful of Irish soldiers now includes about 150,000 participants and somewhere between two and three million spectators.
2. Boston is also a contender for the longest-running St. Patrick’s Day parade – legend puts their first parade a whopping 25 years before the New York counterpart. The tale there is one similar to the New York parade – the story is that in 1737, some Irish colonists held a small gathering in the street to acknowledge their roots. The History Channel calls New York the first official parade, though – any Bostonians care to dispute?
3. Hot Springs, Arkansas. The boyhood home of Bill Clinton, Alan Ladd and Billy Bob Thornton boasts a parade route that’s just 98 feet long. Billed as “The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade,” the celebration is small on yardage but big on star power: this year’s parade marshal is Bo Derek. Past marshals have included Pauly Shore, John Ratzenberger, Mike Rowe, George Wendt and Mario Lopez. Entertainment for those 98 feet includes your typical floats, but also the Irish Order of Elvi (Irish Elvis impersonators) and a group of Irish belly dancers.
4. Dripsey, Cork. The parade held in this small village in County Cork is a bit longer than the parade in Arkansas (about 100 yards total), but I like their beginning and end points better: two pubs. Some sources day the parade has been discontinued since a Foot and Mouth outbreak in 2001, but others say 2001 was the only year the short celebration was halted. Do we have any _flossers in the know?
5. Montserrat, Caribbean. There aren’t many places in the world where St. Patrick’s Day is an actual national holiday, but this little island in the Caribbean is one of them. It’s known as the “Emerald Island of the Caribbean” because it was founded by Irish refugees, but the celebration on the island is probably the only one in the world that actually celebrates an uprising against the Irish as well as celebrating Irish heritage. In 1768, a group of slaves rebelled against their Irish masters on St. Patrick’s Day but were defeated. These days, dancers in parades carry whips and do mock-Irish dance steps to represent the slaves mocking their masters.
6. Dublin, Ireland. Up until relatively recently, Dublin really wasn’t the place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. That is, if “celebrate” means “booze it up” to you. Being a Saint’s Day, it was considered a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholic Irish and was solemnly observed – no marching bands and no Guinness at 6 a.m. But Dublin knows a good thing when it sees it, and the American tradition of drunken revelry has spread to their tourism industry. These days, if you want to see a two-hour parade that involves robots, marching polar bears, bees and marching bands from as far away as the U.S. and Japan, Dublin should be your destination.
7. Chicago. You want a green river? Then this is the place to be. The river is dyed the day of the parade, and, “just like recipe for Coca-Cola,” the concoction used to make the river look mossy is a closely guarded secret (so says the website). The annual parade has been held since 1843, but the river has only been dyed since 1962.
8. Birmingham, England, hosts the biggest St. Patrick’s Day parade in Britain – in fact, the parade organizers claim it’s the third biggest in the entire world (after New York and Dublin). And while their parade may not be quite as big as the one in New York, they do boast a bigger Feast Day cake. “The cake dwarfs New York’s famous three tier green, white, and gold cake which is displayed at the world-famous Waldorf Astoria hotel for the annual parade,” the website brags. Birmingham’s cake is five tiers and stands 15 feet tall – but the bottom three tiers are fake. Should that count? Birmingham sure thinks so. “It was great to see us beating the Yanks on St. Patrick’s Day at something,” one of the webmasters wrote.
9. Montreal, Canada, celebrated its 186th consecutive St. Pat’s parade last weekend. Although the day has been celebrated since 1759 by Irish soldiers of the Montreal Garrison, the first parade on record took place more than 60 years later. Sadly, a 20-year-old student was killed at the parade this year, crushed under the wheels of the float. Officials for the parade are reviewing the incident to determine how to handle next year’s crush of people.
10. Seoul, South Korea. You may not immediately think “Erin Go Bragh” when you think of Seoul, but they’ve held a parade annually since 2001. Attendance was around 20,000 as of 2008 and has been growing in popularity ever since.
Do you have a St. Patrick’s Day parade in your town? Have you been to any of these famous parades? Let us know about your experience in the comments.
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Savannah has a huge one every year! 186 years running now
posted by Jason on 3-17-2010 at 7:08 pm
Savannah in March is like New Orleans in Feb!!
posted by Mickey on 3-17-2010 at 7:37 pm
Why isn’t Savannah, GA on here??? Savannah hosts the 2nd largest St Patty’s parade in the US. Like Jason said, 186 years and counting!
posted by robbie on 3-17-2010 at 7:38 pm
I’m in county Cork now and the parade in Dripsey is no longer held. Still, Cork is a great place to celebrate!
posted by Lindsay on 3-17-2010 at 7:52 pm
What about Holyoke, MA. That parade is huge.
posted by Bridget on 3-17-2010 at 8:05 pm
as to #8, that’s total nonsense. the brits can’t credit themselves with making a bigger cake than new yorkers if half their cake is plastic, that’s just common sense.
posted by sammylee on 3-17-2010 at 9:22 pm
San Antonio dyes its river green every year for St. Patrick’s Day. (Click on the link to see it.) I think it was a big event last Saturday. The annual parade is in its 42nd year.
posted by Christi on 3-17-2010 at 10:40 pm
while the history channel might support new york, on the st patrick’s day quiz you can see that sporcle supports boston! woops just gave that answer away didnt i…
posted by emma on 3-17-2010 at 11:26 pm
As Bridget noted, Holyoke, MA is huge. Growing up, they always claimed it was number 2, behind NYC and ahead of Chicago.
posted by Tim on 3-17-2010 at 11:37 pm
I can’t believe you didn’t mention Savannah or Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh has the 2nd largest parade in the US for the Holiday
posted by Dan on 3-18-2010 at 8:56 am
It’s already been voiced but I’m going to have to go ahead and ask, “Are you crazy??? How could you have left out Savannah??” I lived there for nearly five years and this year is sadly the first year since 2000 I didn’t go down there for St. Patricks day. If you’ve never been, it should be on your list of things to do before you die. Even if you don’t go for St. Patty’s, just go anytime of the year, because it is the greatest city on the face of the planet. That city is alive in a very special way that others can’t even try to touch.
posted by Eric on 3-18-2010 at 9:19 am
I’d have to submit Maryville, Missouri as having the shortest St. Patty’s Day Parade. Hot springs, Arkansas may be the shortest parade for a larger city but this college town supposedly has the world’s record. Although it does not draw the big names for Grand Marshalls, the best part of the parade is at the end when the street gets flooded with green water.
\World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Parade – Starting off as a joke for downtown watering hole The Palms, it is an ever-diminishing tradition of having of the world’s shortest Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. Originally going a block on Buchanan from Fourth Street to Fifth Street, the parade has gotten shorter and shorter each year to maintain the record. It was 86 feet (26 m) in 2006.\
posted by Jill on 3-18-2010 at 9:30 am
Chicago not only dyes the river green (the dye is inserted by the Plumber’s Union), but until last year, there were two competing St. Patrick’s Day Parades. The official Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade and from 1979 through 2009, the South Side Irish Parade (click link in name for history).
posted by Steven on 3-18-2010 at 9:47 am
In Buffalo we have 2 parades. The bigger ones been going since 1811. I was in the parade a couple times with an Irish Dancing Troupe. It really is amazing fun and even when its snowing (which it often is) We’re all out there enjoying the parade. We’re hearty people here!
posted by Shawn on 3-18-2010 at 10:06 am
On Saturday, March 20, Shamrock, TX will have their 64th St. Patrick’s Day parade. There are activities from Thursday through Sunday, including a carnival, Miss Irish Rose pageant, Arts & Crafts show, and more.
posted by Michelle on 3-18-2010 at 10:07 am
Scranton PA (of The office fame) has a huge parade. Bars open at 5am, street vendors selling festive attire, and of course the parade. I went to college in Scranton and it was something to look froward to all winter.
posted by Meglet on 3-18-2010 at 10:13 am
Putting in a mention for New Orleans, LA. St. Patrick’s Day being another excuse to throw a party/parade, it’s a good break from the Lenten sacrifices.
And we throw cabbages and potatoes from our floats to the paradegoers.
posted by 8rustystaples on 3-18-2010 at 10:23 am
You have to include Savannah and Jackson, MS with the Sweet Potato Queens and all the wannabe’s that come in from all over the country.
posted by Amy S on 3-18-2010 at 11:19 am
In New Orleans, we have a parade (go figure) for St. Pat’s that is similar to Mardi Gras parades except instead of beads and coins as throws, they throw cabbage, potatoes and sausage. It is a great way to get supplies for dinner.
posted by Ralph on 3-18-2010 at 11:44 am
I heard the Cork parade always causes BOTTLENECKS. Get it?
posted by Mike Hyde on 3-18-2010 at 1:00 pm
I agree with the above post about the Scranton parade. It is massive and people come from all over for it. The bars aren’t just open at 5am… they are PACKED at 5am. It’s absolutely craziness in an incredibly awesome way.
Oh yeah. And there’s a parade. :o) A pretty large one at that. I believe they claim to be the third largest after New York and Savannah, But I think a lot of cities claim that they’re one of the largest.
posted by C on 3-18-2010 at 1:17 pm
You didn’t miss anything in Des Moines.
posted by teh wife on 3-18-2010 at 4:11 pm
I really, really, REALLY can’t beleive y’all missed New Orleans. We have about 5 parades total (at least) in the area. Like the others mentioned, we throw FOOD! It’s tradition to cook cabbage w/veggies and corned-beef, so the parades throw the supplies to everyone. Most throw cabbage, other veggies are considered a treat. My family members even kept a cooler with packs of corned-beef to give to good friends on the route. Also, we throw Moon-Pies. Plus, there’s a huge block party at Parasol’s, a restaurant in the “Irish Channel” of New Orleans. It’s been there since the fifties. Also in the parade are social marching groups that dance and hand out flowers, for a price (a kiss).
posted by Lindsey on 3-19-2010 at 12:49 pm