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7 Destinations to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

Parades, festivals and dyed rivers highlight family-friendly observances

Chicago building and cityscape on Saint Patrick's day around Chicago river walk with green color dye in the river in Chicago Downtown, illinois, USA, crow
The Chicago River will be dyed green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Alamy
By

Jennifer Ortiz and Sheeka Sanahori,

 
AARP
Published March 06, 2023
/ Updated March 07, 2024

St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday this year, and many cities are celebrating Irish heritage all weekend long. New York City throws the largest parade in the United States, but cities of all sizes create unique St. Paddy’s events. Wondering where to celebrate near you? Here are seven locations planning impressive celebrations ahead of and on St. Patrick’s Day.

Members of the Berkeley Preparatory School Pipe and Drum Corps perform during Boston’s St. Patrick’s parade in 2023. This year, the parade is on March 17, 2024.
Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Boston

The city’s parade dates back to 1737 and draws up to around a million spectators. The route is 3.5 miles long in South Boston and also celebrates Evacuation Day, when British forces evacuated the city after an 11-month siege of Boston in 1776.

Lansdowne Pub, across from Fenway Park, and the Black Rose in downtown, are just two of the many pubs hosting festivities throughout the week, including live local bands and traditional Irish music.

The 160th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, March 12, 2011 in San Francisco, CA, USA
The 173rd St. Patrick’s Day Parade in San Francisco takes place March 16, 2024.
Alamy

San Francisco

March is Irish-American heritage month, and the Irish-American Crossroads Festival is hosting a series of cultural events through April that explore the Irish experience in the Americas. Ticket prices vary, but visitors can find the complete schedule and pricing here.

On March 16, the city will have more than 100 floats, bands and other entrants marching in its 173rd St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which is free. Event organizers say it’s the largest parade west of the Mississippi River . The route starts on 2nd Street and Market Street, goes down Market Street and finishes at City Hall. Food and drinks from various vendors as well as live music and plenty of activities for children will be part of the festival taking place at Civic Center Plaza starting at 2 p.m.

The United Irish Cultural Center of San Francisco will host a free daylong celebration and Green Fest Block Party on St. Patrick’s Day featuring live music, vendors, a hot corned beef and cabbage meal and Irish dancers.

Participants at the annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago
The St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Chicago is one of three to celebrate the holiday.
Alamy

Chicago ​

This year, the Chicago plumbers union will once again dye the Chicago River green on March 16; the best views to see this in action are from Upper Wacker Drive between Columbus and Fairbanks.  

The city offers not one but three St. Patrick’s Day parades, starting with a downtown parade on March 16. It’s followed by a festival at the Irish American Heritage Center ($15 in advance; $20 that day for adults). Festivities continue the next day with the South Side Irish Parade and the Northwest Side Irish neighborhood parade. Both are free.

Leprechaun in the Savannah St. Patrick's Day parade 2011
This year marks the 200th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Savannah, Georgia.
Alamy

Savannah, Georgia

Those who’ve been to the Southern port city in the spring know it takes St. Patrick’s Day seriously. 

The city kicks off its family-friendly events on March 8 with the free annual greening of the fountain in downtown Savannah’s Forsyth Park. The annual Tybee Island Irish Heritage Celebration on March 9 is the first St. Patrick’s Day parade of the season.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist will be the starting point for the Celtic Mass and parade to Emmet Park on March 10 as well as the St. Patrick’s Day Mass on March 16. The 200th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, featuring pipe bands, Irish dancers and more than 350 marching units, follows immediately after.

Kansas City, Missouri, USA. 17th Mar, 2016. St. Andrew Pipe and Drums opens the St. Patrick's Day processional.
Kansas City, Missouri, will mark its 50th annual parade on March 17, 2024.
Alamy

Kansas City, Missouri

The Kansas City metro area prides itself on family-friendly St. Patrick’s Day events, and this year’s festivities are celebrating notable anniversaries. North Kansas City’s Snake Saturday Parade (March 16) is celebrating 40 years. The festival that follows includes a carnival, inflatables for kids, a car show and food.

Kansas City’s 50th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 17 is free. Finish celebrations with a visit to Browne’s Irish Marketplace, the oldest business in the United States owned by Irish immigrants and their descendants. The store has been in business since 1887 and operates a bar and deli. It sells frozen and shelf-stable food imported from Ireland.

Organizers of the Hot Springs, Ark., parade measure the route each year to ensure it remains the shortest parade.
Organizers of the Hot Springs, Arkansas, parade measure the route each year to ensure it remains the shortest parade.
Visit Hot Springs

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs isn’t joking when it claims to throw the world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade; the route is only 98 feet long. Organizers even measure the route every year to ensure it remains the shortest. The brevity is made up for in quirkiness.

The event attracts celebrity guests such as Cheech Marin, 77, Ralph Macchio, 62, and Alfonso Ribeiro, 52. This year, Forrie J. Smith, 65, who played Lloyd Pierce in Yellowstone, is the parade starter. Emmitt Smith, 54, the famed Dallas Cowboys running back is the grand marshal. The parade also will feature performances from the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.

Prizes for the best-dressed and slowest runners will be awarded at Hot Springs’ Zero-K Race, which encourages participants to get through the 299-foot course as slowly as possible.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - MARCH 17, 2017 - People gathered to watch the St. Patricks' Day River Parade in San Antonio, Texas.
A boat parade flows through San Antonio’s River Walk park downtown.
Alamy

San Antonio

San Antonio doesn’t just dye its river green to mark the holiday. Floats in the parade literally float on the San Antonio River. River dyeing events take place March 16 and 17. The city’s free boat parade on March 16 flows through the San Antonio’s River Walk park downtown and features 12 Irish-theme floats, many including bagpipers and other entertainment.

The city will have a free artisan show, the Shamrock Shuffle 5K and a music and dance festival on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.​

Jennifer Ortiz is an associate editor at aarp.org. She previously covered personal finance, careers and other consumer topics as an editor at U.S. News & World Report and was a news writer and editor at WTOP News in Washington, D.C.

Sheeka Sanahori is a freelance travel journalist and the founder of “Inherited Travel,” a newsletter for travelers who want to make more socially conscious travel choices.​ ​

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