Revelers hail St. Patrick’s Day
John Shepard and Gena Damento of Rochester Minn., take a photo of themselves kissing after the Chicago River was dyed green ahead of the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. With the holiday itself falling on a Sunday, many celebrations were scheduled instead for Saturday because of religious observances. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
A spectator looks on as the Chicago River is dyed green ahead of the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. With the holiday itself falling on a Sunday, many celebrations were scheduled for Saturday because of religious observances. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Spectators watch as the Chicago River is dyed green ahead of the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. With the holiday itself falling on a Sunday, many celebrations were scheduled instead for Saturday because of religious observances. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Members of the Petri School of Irish Dance perform at the Ireland Chamber of Commerce 17th annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, in New York, Saturday, March 16, 2013. The Irish, their descendants and the Irish for the day prepared to don green and pay tribute to Hibernian heritage as a weekend of St. Patrick's Day celebrations was set from New York's Fifth Avenue to the Louisiana bayou to Dublin's Parnell Square. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, right, meets with Damien and Glenda Moore, of Brooklyn, N.Y., at the 17th annual Ireland Chamber of Commerce St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, in New York, Saturday, March 16, 2013. The couple lost their two young sons who were swept from their mother's arms by the violent sea at the height of Superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Bystanders look on as the Chicago River is dyed green ahead of the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. With the holiday itself falling on a Sunday, many celebrations were scheduled instead for Saturday because of religious observances. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
The Chicago River is dyed green right before the start of the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. With the holiday itself falling on a Sunday, many celebrations were scheduled instead for Saturday because of religious observances. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, right, meets with Damien and Glenda Moore, of Brooklyn, N.Y., at the 17th annual Ireland Chamber of Commerce St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, in New York, Saturday, March 16, 2013. The couple lost their two young sons who were swept from their mother's arms by the violent sea at the height of Superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny addresses the 17th annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast of the Ireland Chamber of Commerce, in New York, Saturday, March 16, 2013. he Irish, their descendants and the Irish for the day prepared to don green and pay tribute to Hibernian heritage as a weekend of St. Patrick's Day celebrations was set from New York's Fifth Avenue to the Louisiana bayou to Dublin's Parnell Square. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Firefighter Steve Ortiz of the Los Angels City Fire Department is kissed while marching in the St. Patricks Day parade, Saturday, March 16, 2013, in Savannah, Ga. Led by bagpipers in green kilts, the parade snaked through the streets with more than 300 floats, marching bands, military units marching in formation, and dignitaries in convertibles decorated with shamrocks. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Parade grand marshal and third-generation Savannahian Jimmy Ray, left, shakes hands with supporters after receiving the traditional blessing from Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, center, during the St. Patricks Day parade, Saturday, March 16, 2013, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Jacob Tidwell, center, and his friends Donavan Mock, left, and Preston Vasquez react to a band during Savannahs 189-year-old St. Patricks Day parade, Saturday, March 16, 2013, in Savannah, Ga. Started in 1824 by early Irish immigrants to Georgia, the parade has ballooned into a sprawling street party that makes for Savannah's most profitable tourism event. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel left, poses for a photo with "Shamrock" the green dyed Irish Wolfhound and from left, Clancy Shanahan, Tony Shanahan and Cavan Shanahan before the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Gaudy green revelers crammed the oak-shaded sidewalks of downtown Savannah for the St. Patrick's Day parade, Saturday, March, 16, 2013, in Savannah, Ga. The St. Patrick's Day celebration is a 189-year-old tradition in Georgia's oldest city. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Doc Foley leads the Yonkers, N.Y., Fire Department Pipe and Drum in Savannahs 189-year-old St. Patricks Day parade, Saturday, March, 16, 2013, in Savannah, Ga. Started in 1824 by early Irish immigrants to Georgia, the parade has ballooned into a sprawling street party that makes for Savannah's most profitable tourism event. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Jozee Killoren of Hartford, Wis. looks through her shamrock glasses before the start of the Shamrock Shuffle 5K Race/Walk in Hartford on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Proceeds from the race benefited the Hartford Union Varsity Club. (AP Photo/The Daily News, John Ehlke)
A street vendor rolls his cart along the parade route at dawn before Savannahs 189-year-old St. Patricks Day parade, Saturday, March 16, 2013, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Bev Kehayes, left, of Greensboro, N.C., gets her homemade hat pinned on her head by her friend Mary Parrish, center, and Sara Farnsworth, right, before Savannahs 189-year-old St. Patricks Day parade, Saturday, March 16, 2013, in Savannah, Ga. St. Patrick's Day falls on March 17, which is Sunday. But a number of cities, including Savannah, New York and Chicago are all holding parades Saturday to take advantage of the full weekend. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Sabella Cartwright, of Bonaire, Ga., waits for her friends to show up with coolers and food before the start of Savannahs 189-year-old St. Patricks Day parade, Saturday March 16, 2013 in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, right, walks with Brian O'Dwyer, Chairman of the Ireland Chamber of Commerce, as he arrives for the 17th annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, in New York, Saturday, March 16, 2013. The Irish, their descendants and the Irish for the day prepared to don green and pay tribute to Hibernian heritage as a weekend of St. Patrick's Day celebrations was set from New York's Fifth Avenue to the Louisiana bayou to Dublin's Parnell Square. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
People dance during a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
John Shepard and Gena Damento of Rochester Minn., take a photo of themselves kissing after the Chicago River was dyed green ahead of the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. With the holiday itself falling on a Sunday, many celebrations were scheduled instead for Saturday because of religious observances. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Members of the New York City Fire Department's Emerald Society Pipes and Drums make their way up New York's Fifth Avenue as they take part in the St. Patrick's Day Parade Saturday March 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
Dressed as a Leprechaun, Gary Robusto of Guilderland high fives a spectator at the 63rd Annual Albany St. Patrick's Day Parade along State Street in Albany, N.Y. on Saturday, March 16, 2013. (AP Photo/The Daily Gazette, Peter R. Barber)
NEW YORK — Crowds cheered and bagpipes bellowed as New York City’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade kicked off Saturday, and people with a fondness for anything Irish began a weekend of festivities from the Louisiana bayou to Dublin.
With the holiday itself falling on a Sunday, many celebrations were scheduled instead for Saturday because of religious observances.
In New York, the massive parade, which predates the United States, was led by 750 members of the New York Army National Guard. The 1st Battalion of the 69th Infantry has been marching in the parade since 1851.
Michael Bloomberg took in his last St. Patrick’s Day parade as mayor, waving to a cheering crowd as snowflakes fell on Fifth Avenue.
Marching just behind him was Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who presented Bloomberg with a historic Irish teapot earlier.
“The Irish are found in every borough, every corner of New York,” Kenny said at a holiday breakfast. “In previous generations they came heartbroken and hungry, in search of new life, new hope; today they come in search of opportunity to work in finance, fashion, film.”
Hundreds of thousands lined the parade route in New York, cheering the marching bands, dance troupes and politicians.
“We’re crazy, the Irish, we’re funny and we talk to everyone,” said 23-year-old Lauren Dawson, of Paramus, N.J., who came to her first St. Patrick’s Day parade.
In downtown Chicago, thousands along the Chicago River cheered as workers on a boat dumped dye into the water, turning it a bright fluorescent green for at least a few hours in an eye-catching local custom.
In a sea of people in green shirts, coats, winter hats, sunglasses and even wigs and beards, 29-year-old Ben May managed to stand out. The Elkhart, Ind., man wore a full leprechaun costume, complete with a tall green hat he had to hold onto in the wind.
“I’ve got a little Irish in me, so I’m supporting the cause,” he said.
May bought the outfit online to wear to Notre Dame football games. But he figured it was fitting for this occasion too.
“I probably will get to drink for free,” he said, after posing for a photograph with a group of women.
“That’s what I’m hoping,” said his girlfriend, Angela Gibson.
Kenny, who visited Chicago for St. Patrick’s Day last year, was again making the holiday a jumping-off point for an extended trip to the U.S., with stops in Washington and on the West Coast over the ensuing several days.
“I will use my visit to promote Ireland’s many strengths and to further reinforce our deep and abiding political and economic relationship with the United States,” Kenny said in a statement this week.
He and President Barack Obama were scheduled to meet at the White House on Tuesday and Kenny was to give Obama shamrocks, a tradition that dates to Harry S. Truman’s administration. Obama also is slated to meet the Protestant and Catholic leaders of Northern Ireland’s cross-community government, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness.
Thousands of revelers gaudily garbed in green crammed the oak-shaded squares and sidewalks of downtown Savannah, Ga., on Saturday, for a celebration that’s a 189-year-old tradition.
Led by bagpipers in green kilts, a parade kicked off Saturday morning, hours after customers began lining up at downtown bars. More than 1,000 worshippers also packed the pews of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist for the Mass that traditionally precedes the parade.
Bev Kehayes, of Greensboro, N.C., joined friends near the start of the parade route. She made hats with green feathers and flowers just for the occasion.
“It’s good, clean fun. Heaven forbid there’s a little alcohol involved,” said Kehayes, who says she’s missed only three of the celebrations in Savannah in 29 years.
In Ireland, Dublin’s five-day St. Patrick’s Day festival was unfolding with a new addition. For the first time, up to 8,000 visitors from around the world were due to march in a so-called people’s parade on Sunday, when Ireland’s capital city also intends hold its usual procession of bands and pageantry.
In Maine, St. Patrick’s Day prompted Gov. Paul LePage to relent on a vow to veto any bill that reached his desk before lawmakers pass his proposal to pay a state debt to hospitals. He signed a measure Friday allowing bars to serve alcohol a few hours earlier than usual, starting at 6 a.m., on the Sunday holiday.
About 1,500 miles southwest, the city of Houma, La., was holding its unconventional celebration — an Irish-Italian parade, with a celebration that features both Irish cabbage and Italian sausage — on Sunday. The event resumed last year after a 10-year hiatus.
In Rolla, Mo., the Missouri University of Science and Technology continued a St. Patrick’s tradition that began in 1908, when students declared that the patron saint of Ireland also was the patron saint of engineers. A slate of events included a student portraying St. Patrick being transported downtown on a manure spreader.
Annapolis, Md., held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade March 10. A 40-year-old parade tradition took on a sense of renewal March 3 in Belmar, N.J., a shore town that took a heavy blow from Superstorm Sandy.
But along with the festivities, in some places, came warnings from police that they would be on the lookout for drunken drivers and other misbehavior. Police in Baltimore and Washington both planned to increase patrols.
Reader Comments (1)
Previous Page | Next PageSubmit your comment below:
* = Required information