St. Patrick’s Day parades are making their triumphant return this year after a two year absence due to covid-19. Ireland isn’t the only country to pull out all the stops for the event. The day is celebrated all over the world. Here are the five biggest and boldest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the world.
The Five Biggest St. Patrick’s Day Parades in the World
Dublin, Ireland
Dublin, Ireland is the home to the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Although the festivities take place all over Ireland every 17th of March, Dublin is without a doubt the most popular. The streets become crammed with thousands of people embracing, dancing, and singing with each other as they enjoy the normally flamboyant parade that roams through the streets of the city centre.
The festivities generally run through to the night time which makes for one of the most epic night outs in town in Ireland all year.
New York City, USA
This is a no brainer. I think its quite well known how seriously St. Patrick’s Day is taken in the states, especially in New York. There is a very large Irish community around New York, so it was only natural that the day would continue to grow more popular each year.
What makes the New York Patrick’s Day so massive is the amount of spectators it garners. Generally there is around two million people attending the event each year! Also, there is a massive number of participants with 150,000 to 250,000 people entertaining the crowds with dancing, singing and the traditional bagpipes.
London, England
Our next door neighbors. It makes sense that London would have a big parade each year because like New York, there is a large Irish community in England’s capital.
Although London celebrate Paddy’s Day every year, they do so with their own little twist. Every year, they have a different theme to the parade. Although there is a theme, the roots of a traditional St. Patrick’s Day parade are still evident with imaginatively designed floats, marching bands, sports clubs, and Irish-dancing schools from across the UK entertaining the large crowds.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
A little unknown one here. Buenos Aries, surprisingly has the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in South America. Argentina’s capital is home to over 500,000 Irish people, which means that there is a demand for some Patrick’s Day festivities in the area.
Food and beer stands line the streets of Avenida de Mayo while elves, fairies, bagpipers and Irish dancers will honor the homeland with the parade.
The event is hosted by the Argentina-Ireland Association, the Buenos Aires city government and the Irish Embassy in Buenos Aires.
Montreal, Canada
The Montreal St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been celebrated yearly since 1824, making it the oldest and largest after NYC’s parade. The festivities are generally quite traditional in Canada with Irish dancers, singers and bagpipes with one exception, they all drink a green beer.
The Paddy’s Day parade in Montreal is ran over a three hour period with hundreds of floats, marching bands, performers and revellers march along Sainte-Catherine Street.
