Seven Best Cities to celebrate St Patrick’s Day

Last Updated on December 29, 2021 by Cody Livingston

The Feast of St. Patrick is just three months away and this is the perfect time for you to plan your trip to some of the best cities for St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Get Ready to drink beer, whiskey, eat traditional Irish dishes, wear Green, enjoy the parades across the globe in 2022.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th, it is said to be the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the first patron saint of Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day is a religious and cultural celebration, wearing green or shamrock is a St. Patrick’s Day tradition. According to legends, you get pinched for not wearing green, green makes you concealed to Leprechauns, and Leprechauns like to pinch, so don’t be shocked if people pinch you for not wearing green.

The day is also known for massive gatherings, bar crawls, music, beef stew, streets filled with ravers, and everything green. The first parade on St. Patrick’s Day took place in the United States, so it may come as no surprise that a few of the best places to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day happen to be in the US.

Let us take a look at the seven best celebrations around the world on St. Patrick’s Day

1 – Dublin, Ireland

There is no place better than the capital city of the Emerald Isle to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The party last for five days, which includes boat races, parades, the Irish Beer and Whiskey Festival, live music and making the city glow green at night.

Street performers fill the air with music and traditional local pubs are fully packed as people drink beer, whiskey, and enjoy Celtic-style bar food. The annual march starts at Parnell Square, moving along the streets of the city before the parade concludes at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

This city comes to life with a plethora of activities including street theatre, festival parade, treasure hunts, cultural tributes, and even a 5000 metres race, all as a tribute to Ireland’s history. 

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2 – New York, USA

New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is marching strong for over 250 years! And is the oldest documented parade in history, older than the one in Dublin. More than two million people gather for the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in New York. 

Although it is not an official holiday on March 17th, the parade is held by shutting down many of NYC streets, the march starts around 11 in the morning, running along Central Park, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the iconic shops on 5th Avenue, all the way up to the Irish Historical Society. There is no better way to celebrate the Irish than by attending a parade that strolls past New York City landmarks. 

Not only will you get to properly celebrate the Irish heritage and partake in a historically renowned parade, but you’ll also get a chance to see those famous New York City attractions.

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3 – Boston, USA

Boston is considered to be the most Irish city in the US, it is one of the best cities to be for St. Patrick’s Day. The massive parade in South Boston(Southie) is the major event in the city along with several ways to connect to Irish heritage with Gaelic food at every corner, a ton of local Irish pubs, traditional Irish music, and ongoing bar crawls.

The streets are filled with people in green hats (if not in green costume/paint!) floating towards the parade route and looking for their next green beer. And, yes, Boston’s very own Dropkick Murphys performs for the home crowd on St Patrick’s Day.

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4 – Chicago, USA

On St. Patrick’s Day, Chicago streets are filled with marching bands, Irish dancers, and people singing and dancing all around. The Chicago River is turned green using a dye, is one of the highlights of St. Patrick’s Day and attracts thousands of visitors each year for the celebration. 

The parade starts at noon from Balbo and Columbus and moves to the north of Columbus Drive towards the Buckingham Fountain. There are plenty of other events taking place all over Chicago to celebrate this day. Ravers continue the celebration by attending pub crawls and festivities through different neighbourhoods of Chicago.

If you are planning to visit Chicago and watch as it happens, the best viewing spots are mostly located on or near Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive.

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5 – London, UK

London offers one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration with over two thousand in attendance every year. The Irish pubs serve up traditional beef stew meals and plenty of Guinness. On Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day, a 2.5 km long parade travels through the heart of London. Marching bands from all across the country gather to celebrate this Irish heritage day. 

There is also a free festival in Trafalgar Square that includes an artisan Irish food market, comedy and film festivals, live music, and dancing. There are dozens of Irish pubs all around the city of London, many of them have specials and traditional Irish food and drink for this special holiday.

6 – Buenos Aires, Argentina

Argentina is home to the fifth largest Irish population in the world. Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina is the host to South America’s largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration. 

Each year, a St. Patrick’s Day festival and parade draw citizens along Reconquista Street. The city annual leprechaun costume contest also draws a lot of participants to the festivities. The Retiro district and Plaza Irlanda are a few of many places to experience the festivities with live music, dance performances and more. 

St. Patrick’s Day can be a perfect excuse for a trip to Buenos Aires and appreciate its unique mixture of cosmopolitan and Latin American culture.

7 – Tokyo, Japan

Yes, you are not mistaken, the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Tokyo, Japan has been a great success. The whole city is dressed in green decorations. Leprechauns, dogs dressed in Irish garb take part in this parade and entertain viewers throughout the day. Live music and Japanese food trucks serving traditional Irish food are the experiences you cannot miss.

Do you know? The St. Patrick’s Day parade was first organised in 2014 in Tokyo, and the city ran out of food, the city never expected such a huge turn-up.

Though the pandemic affected the festivities drastically for the past two years, Dublin is preparing to bring its parade to full capacity in 2022, and so are the other cities. You can start planning your trip to any of the cities for this March 17. And for the best deals and offers, you can rely on us.