Parades, bagpipes, and clinking pints are traditional St. Patrick’s Day rituals

Oh, Danny boy, ’tis the season for Irish bagpipes in the concrete glens of New York City, across the swooning boughs of Savannah, Georgia, and in the halls of the White House as the United States celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with parades, pub crawls, and a state visit.
On Friday, thousands of tourists and locals crowded Savannah’s oak-shaded squares and downtown sidewalks. The city’s parade, a century-old tradition, is the largest in the South.

Veteran parade watchers arrived early in the morning to stake out spots in the squares for picnic tables and party tents. The bars opened at 7 a.m. to welcome customers who were already thirsty for beer and Bloody Marys.
The annual parade in New York City drew throngs to Fifth Avenue to listen to bagpipes and bands and pay homage to Ireland’s patron saint.
“It appears as though everything turns green when we march up Fifth Avenue,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said during the annual St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast Reception.
Irish immigrants have a long history of helping New York City become what it is today, and the mayor described them as “one of the many groups that make up our city and that makes us great.”
Some cities, such as Chicago, which dyes its river green to commemorate a day when everyone dresses up as Irish, held parades last weekend. This weekend, other cities, including Boston, will hold parades and other festivities.

The fountain on the South Lawn of the White House will also be green as President Joe Biden, who frequently speaks of his Irish heritage, welcomes Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar for a long-delayed meeting between the two heads of state that had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With temperatures in Savannah expected to reach the mid-70s, many paradegoers wore shorts, green T-shirts, and strands of green plastic beads. Mike Trout wore green makeup on his entire face and bald head, which was accented by an orange plastic mustache.
“You got the spirit, brother!” exclaimed one bystander as Trout and his wife, Diana, strolled the streets before the parade. The couple from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, traveled to Savannah solely for the purpose of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.

“She’s Irish, and I’m an Irish want tobe,” Trout explained.
The Savannah St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1824 by Irish immigrants to Georgia’s oldest city, has grown into one of the South’s largest street parties after Mardi Gras.
“This is a lot of people,” said Sheila Barry, a Savannah native who staked out a spot along Abercorn Street near the parade route with a friend. They packed sandwiches, water, and something Barry jokingly referred to as “St. Patrick’s holy water.”

Barry, 55, wore an emerald green felt sash embroidered with the names of her late parents, Irish immigrants who arrived in Savannah more than five decades ago. They enjoyed Savannah’s Irish traditions and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, she said.
“Everyone, they’re all Irish today,” Barry exclaimed. “Everyone is just having a good time.”
Adeline Penn, Vivian Penn’s 2-year-old granddaughter, clapped and waved as Savannah’s parade began with schoolchildren in kilts carrying American and Irish flags, followed by the droning whine of a bagpipe band. Just two days before St. Patrick’s Day, the girl in a white dress with shamrocks and green stripes celebrated her birthday.
“She’ll always be an Irish redhead,” Penn said of her blond granddaughter.
The parade was only the second in Savannah since the coronavirus pandemic forced city officials to postpone the celebration in 2020 and 2021. According to Penn, who lives nearby in Savannah’s downtown historic district, even last year’s comeback parade seemed subdued, with plenty of elbow room along the typically crowded parade route.
“This appears to be back to normal,” Penn said. “I was like, ‘Yes, it’s St. Patrick’s Day!’ this morning.” It was thrilling to see everyone out the window with their chairs running down the street.”
President Joe Biden will host Ireland’s prime minister on Friday, after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the long-running St. Patrick’s Day gathering for the second year in a row.
The meeting with one of America’s closest allies comes after Biden announced plans to visit both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland this year, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the US-brokered Good Friday Agreement. The agreement contributed to the end of sectarian violence that had raged for three decades over whether Northern Ireland should join Ireland or remain part of the United Kingdom.