Spectacular St Patrick's Day Celebrations

A holiday with plenty of historical significance, St. Patrick's Day has stretched beyond its home country of Ireland to Irish expatriates (and those who just want to be Irish for a day) the whole world over. It's a time for festive partying, dancing in the streets, celebrating with food and drink, and generally having a rollicking good time. Dress in green, grab a shamrock, and experience a little luck of the Irish at these great St. Patrick's Day celebrations!

Home to North America's largest St. Patrick's Day parade, New York City is always an exciting place to visit. Although NYC is used to celebrating the various heritages of its diverse population, the St. Patrick's Day parade is the city's most popular annual parade. You'll see more than just Irish pride here, though there's plenty of that to go around, too. Upwards of 150,000 people march in the parade every year, and millions of people turn out to watch the event.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada
The longest-running parade in North America can be found at the heart of this French-speaking province. Although it may seem unusual that Quebec can make such a claim, it's not as strange as it sounds; some people estimate that about 40% of people in Quebec are of Irish heritage. If you see Montreal on St. Patrick's Day, you won't question the amount of Irish pride shown here every year. Just be aware that Montreal is still very cold in March. If you dress warmly and brush up on your French (most people here speak English too), you can have a great holiday experience here. Just a few hours and you will feel as though you are in Europe...great town!

Hot Springs, Arkansas
The world's shortest street plays host to the world's shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade in this historic Arkansas town. Don't come here expecting tradition, but if you have a great sense of humor and you don't mind an unusual good time, you can see some one-of-a-kind sights like a troupe of "Irish bellydancers" decked out in sparkly green costumes and (as if that wasn't enough sparkle) the "Irish Order of Elvi," a group of Elvis impersonators getting in touch with their inner Irishmen. After the parade (and with a name like this, it won't take long), join the Pub-Crawl and end the holiday with a rollicking good time.