This article provided by:Â Travel Nurse Across America
We recently asked our Facebook group where the best places to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day are. After all, as travel nurses they have been all over the country and some even out of the country on assignment! The following 5 were the most popular places mentioned on the post (they are in no particular order).
Boston, Mass
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in South Boston (locally known as “Southie”) is one of the most popular events and is fun for the whole family, but it is just one of the many events that are offered in Boston for St. Patrick’s Day!
If music is what you are into there is also the Dropkick Murphy’s annual concert at House of Blues. There are also other Irish pubs that you can visit if music isn’t what you are looking for.
Irish Heritage Trail walking tours – Explore 300 years of Irish history in Boston on these fascinating walking tours along the Irish Heritage Trail in Boston Common, Beacon Hill, and Downtown. If you are trying to find something family friendly, this could be a good option. These take place on March 17th and 18th
March is the month for all things Irish, and this 4-day Boston Irish Film Festival will make you think you’re back in the Emerald Isle. Films focus on Ireland and Irish culture, and what it means to be Irish in the 21st century. More than 3,000 fans attend this popular film series. While this doesn’t take place on St. Patrick’s Day it is family friendly. The film festival runs from March 22nd-25th.
If running is something you enjoy doing there is also the St. Patrick’s Day 5K Race in Southie. The 5k takes place a few hours before the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Southie on St. Patrick’s Day.
These are just a few of the events that take place on or around St. Patrick’s Day.  If you visit The Boston Discovery Guide you can find even more to do in Boston!
Dublin, Ireland
Where better to spend St. Patrick’s Day but Ireland? Ireland offers many of the same types of celebrations as the United States including; parades, festivals and music events. Green attire and shamrocks are worn.
Dublin offers many pubs to visit. One of which is The Brazen Head. The Brazen Head is Dublin’s oldest pub. The Pub dates back to 1178. It is a popular tourist attraction. It is listed as one pubs to visit on Expedia’s 17 Great Pubs in Ireland to Celebrate in this St. Patrick’s Day Weekend. It is a great place to have a Guinness while in Ireland!
Dublin stages the biggest and most extravagant St. Patrick’s Day Parade outside New York. Literally half of Dublin’s one million population plus more than a hundred thousand visitors from all over Ireland and from abroad line the parade and turn it into Ireland’s largest street carnival.
The parades include marching bands from all over Ireland, England and the United States. 8 of the 11 marching bands are from the United States this year.
They do offer grandstand seats for purchase if you don’t want to have to fight the crowds. The route of the parade can be seen here.
There are many more options to do in Dublin these are just a couple of the most popular!
Savannah, GA
Savannah was the most popular city in our post! There are a lot of things to do in Savannah to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and the fun doesn’t start or stop on St. Patrick’s Day they celebrate all month long.
Savannah also dyes their fountains green. This takes place on March 8th at 12pm. They begin this tradition at the Forsyth Fountain.
St.Patrick’s Day Festival
There is the St. Patrick’s Day festival that runs March 15th & 16th it runs from 10am to midnight! According to Savannah.com “Out of all of the festivals and events on River Street and in City Market, none is bigger, better or greener than their St. Patrick’s Day Festival. Vendors line the street with gifts and goodies and bands perform live music on stages all over downtown Savannah. These two hot spots are where the real St. Paddy’s Day party is. Guests can hit up City Market for a good time with great jams or grab a drink and enjoy the fun by the Savannah River.”
Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day parade will take place on March 16th, it will run from 10:15 am to 2:30pm.
The city expects there to be about 300,000 people to visit and enjoy the parade and festivities. Savannah prides itself on having the largest parade outside of New York.
One of the biggest draws for many is that Savannah does not have an open container laws.   To be able to take your green beer into the festival area you must purchase a wristband. The cost for a wrist band is $10. While the city is a great place to celebrate one of our Gypsy nurses warned that it is VERY crowded throughout the city. Also, after last year’s visit by Vice President Pence there are now some rules and regulations that you need to be aware of if you plan to visit.
There are other activities that take place in Savannah for St. Patrick’s Day, this is just a small glimpse into the activities that are offered through out the month!
Chicago, IL
Chicago offers many options for those wanting to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in The Windy City. The Chicago River is dyed green on St. Patrick’s Day. Chicago also offers; parades, festivals, restaurants with St. Patrick’s Day themed menus, beer crawls, numerous bars and pubs, and if you would like to learn more about the Irish-American history you can visit The Irish American Heritage Museum.
The Chicago River is dyed at 9 a.m. and the dye lasts for about 5 hours. This tradition happened by accident when the river was being checked for pollution. It has since become one of Chicago’s best-known St. Patrick’s Day traditions.
The city also offers 3 parades. The South Side Parade is the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade outside of Dublin. They also offer The Downtown Parade and The Northwest Side Parade. So, if you are looking for great St. Patrick’s Day Parades Chicago is your city to celebrate in.
Chicago really offers a great variety of things to do to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
New Orleans, LA
Like many of the other cities on our list New Orleans celebrates St. Patrick’s days for many day’s before March 17th.
For instance, Thursday March 14th the celebrations are kicked off with a block party. The Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club block party goes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There is Irish music, food and drinks available at the party.   There is also Parasol’s Block Party Celebration located at 3rd and Constance Street. This is an all day block party and goes from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. They offer green beer and roast beef po-boy.
Parades:
There are numerous parades during the week. They are offered Friday, Saturday and Sunday. GONOLA has more information on their site.
Of course, there are plenty of pubs to visit throughout the city. Pat O’Brien’s opens at 10 a.m. for St. Patrick’s Day and they have specials offered all day long.
New Orleans offers fun every day of the year, so it makes sense that it was voted as one of the top places to visit for St. Patrick’s Day on our Facebook group. There is fun to be had by all!
