People generally connote St. Patrick’s Day with simply getting inebriated on a ton of Irish drinks. While this certainly can be an enjoyable experience for drinkers all around the UK and the world, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t just about toasts and bottoms up’s: it’s a UK holiday wherein Roman Catholics celebrate the feast day of Ireland’s patron saint St. Patrick. Usually happening on the 17th of March, it’s a great day for the religious devout as well as the secular population of the world.
What happens during St. Patrick’s Day?
Pop culture generally designates St. Patrick’s Day as a UK holiday where people wear green, go to parades and get drunk. Although it’s a great way to celebrate all things Irish (they really do have high tolerances for alcohol, however), it must be said that one should be able to move past the pints and lagers. St. Patrick’s Day really is a celebration of the Irish culture as a whole.
In observance of said holiday, people are encouraged to have Irish meals cooked in the tradition of Ireland. Shows and documentaries about Ireland are presented on television and there are many public gatherings that one could partake of should one feel the need to indulge in a bit of street partying. Of course it would be difficult to put the beer and other Irish drinks on the wayside, but these are merely items to augment the commemoration of the Irish spirit.
What about other parts of the world on St. Patrick’s Day?
Nations that don’t observe St. Patrick’s Day as a national or public holiday also observe some form of Irish merry making. The United States, for one, sees St. Patrick’s Day as an excellent opportunity for friends and family to gather for a few rounds of beer and some excellent Irish food. The US also has many gimmicks up its sleeves when it comes to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, such as ejecting a green dye to the Chicago river to turn it Irish green! Children in elementary school are also encouraged to come in green clothing in observance of St. Patrick’s Day. New York holds the world’s most prominent St. Patrick’s Day parade on 5th Avenue where various floats, musicians and street performers join in on the festivities to the delight of millions of onlookers.
Germany celebrates St. Patrick’s Day because of the rather large Irish community there. Although it used to consist of large tents with plenty of beer, drinks and food, Germany also has one of the largest street parades in the world, averaging a length of 2km with floats and musical performances that go way on to the wee hours of the morning.
While St. Patrick’s Day may seem like any other holiday which citizens use as an excuse to imbibe alcoholic beverages and party like it’s the weekend all over again, all it takes is a sincere look towards the Irish observance of the holiday to remember what St. Patrick’s Day really is all about: a non secular celebration of a people’s patron saint, and the observance of respect and praise for such a holy individual.
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