St Patrick's Day Parade
In a city of parades, this is the daddy. New York's spinal cord, 5th Avenue, hosts the largest street parade in the city every St Patrick's Day as thousands of Americans of Irish descent march in celebration of their faith and heritage.
Walkers congregate at 44th Street and move off at about 11am led by the "Fighting 69" - an Irish infantry division which dates back to the American War of Independence - with their Irish wolfhound mascot, followed by the Grand Marshall of the Parade.
For a good view of the parade, try sitting on the upper steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or catch a close-up of the marchers where the parade turns east on 86th Street.
St Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland, and today he is patron of Ireland, New York and Boston, as well as a handful of other cities and countries. On his saint's day, New Yorkers, regardless of their ethnicity, can be found wearing all manner of green garments. Even the white line in the centre of 5th Avenue goes green and most people head for the pub to drink to the health of the saint.
Too much merrymaking is frowned upon in the parade itself, which consists of hundreds of visiting marching bands from every county in Ireland and all over the USA. "Sunday Best" is the dress code (no trainers allowed) and the mood of the parade is supposed to be sombre. There are no commercial floats or garish blow-up figures on this parade.
Related Information
Website: St Patrick's Day Parade Website
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