Every March 17 we wear green to celebrate Irish and Irish American people. You guessed it, St. Patrick’s Day—a celebration better known for big parties and an awful lot of leprechaun images.
St. Patrick’s Day marks the death of, shocker, St. Patrick. He was a Christian bishop credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland and celebrated by the Irish people as their patron saint. The first-ever parade was in 1601, and it was organized by Vicar Ricardo Artur. After that initial parade, people quite liked it since the world has been celebrating it every year since. In the 1760s, back when the 13 colonies were still around, a group of Irishmen serving in the British Army started the New York City tradition of parading on St. Patrick’s Day.
In San Antonio, we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by wearing green, from green shirts to green dyed hair for the more rebellious. And, quite interestingly, if you don’t wear green you get pinched. Also, in the downtown area of San Antonio, the Riverwalk is turned into River Shannon by pouring 25 gallons of eco-friendly green dye, turning the water green. We also have the St. Patrick’s festival and stage entertainment plus their parade. Regardless of our ethnicity, we all still make sure this magnificent celebration does not go unnoticed.