Shah Rukh Khan blows kisses as he arrives at a photo call for the movie Om Shanti Om at the 58th International Berlinale Film Festival on February 8, 2008 in Berlin. Twenty-one films from around the world will vie for the Golden Bear top prize at the 58th annual International Berlinale Film Festival running to February 17.
There are only two kinds of people in the world … the Irish and those who wish they were.” — Irish saying
New York: A band of homesick Irish expatriates, soldiers who were serving in the British Army, marked the first St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City with a procession on March 17, 1762. Today, the parade down Fifth Avenue is the largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the world, with about a quarter of a million marchers and several million spectators.
Chicago: In 1961, city pollution-control workers began using green dye to trace illegal sewage discharges and realized that the dye might offer a unique way to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day. Each year, the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union #110 uses 40 pounds of dye to color the Chicago River a perfect green.
Denver: The Irish spirit is strong even in the Western U.S., especially in this city where you’re more likely to see columbines (the state flower of Colorado) than shamrocks. Remember, it will take fewer pints to affect you at mile-high elevation, so it may be a good idea to stick to less potent potables.
Savannah, Ga.: The population of this lovely Southern city increases almost threefold during Lá Fhéile Pádraig (St. Patrick’s Day) festivities, making it, unofficially, the second-largest Irish party in the country.
Boston: The first St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston is believed to have been held in 1737, organized by the Charitable Irish Society. With a rich heritage of Irish history, this city has a stronger association with Ireland than any in the U.S., even though Chicago and Los Angeles claim larger populations of Irish descent.
Pittsburgh: Come mid-March, the Iron City goes green in a big way. Those of Irish heritage constitute the second-largest population in town, so it’s no wonder that the party for St. Patrick is consistently one of the biggest and most vibrant on the city’s calendar.
Seattle: The Emerald City celebrates the Emerald Isle during a weeklong festival that features genealogical seminars and Gaelic classes. If you quaff enough beor uaine (green beer) and smell the tangy sea air, you can imagine that you’re in Galway, one of Seattle’s sister cities.
Baltimore: Charm City’s southwestern neighborhoods have had deep Irish Catholic roots ever since the wave of immigrants who fled the privation of the “Great Hunger” in the late 1840s landed upon American shores. Many took up employment with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, helping to make Baltimore one of the country’s main railroad hubs.
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