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Enjoy Clover All over This St. Patrick’s Day

Savannah, Georgia

Southerners love to celebrate, which is why St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Savannah, Georgia, take place through the entire month of March. This charming historic city hosts the second-largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the country and goes so far as to dye the water in its park district fountains green to mark the occasion.

History: St. Patrick’s Day parades started as a religious observance in Savannah 193 years ago, making this local celebration one of the oldest in the United States.

Parade: More than 300,000 residents and visitors line the route of Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, which is billed as a celebration of “faith, heritage and family.” Twelve local Irish heritage organizations and many more families and community groups produce the parade each year.

Other Festivities: A three-day festival surrounding St. Patrick’s Day takes place on River Street and the City Market area of Savannah, with hundreds of vendors and live performances on stages throughout the district.

www.savannahsaintpatricksday.com

Kansas City, Missouri

Numerous elements make the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Kansas City, Missouri, notable. The day starts with a special Gaelic Mass, which is followed by a parade that has become one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day events in the country. The city’s festivities are known for their family-friendly feel.

History: Kansas City first started celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in 1873, since many Irish immigrants came to the area during a building boom in the mid-19th century. This year will bring the 46th annual parade.

Parade: More than 200,000 people visit Midtown for the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Kansas City. The parade features plenty of floats, dancers, bands and other traditional elements, and since the creator of the best float gets a trip for two to Ireland, locals are known to pull out all the stops in creating impressive displays.

Other Festivities: Several smaller parades take place throughout the city, and the Kansas City Irish Center hosts Irish musical performances.

www.kcirishparade.com

New York

If you want to take your group to the country’s grandest St. Patrick’s Day celebration, you must take them to New York. Irish heritage and Catholic faith run deep in the city, and celebration in honor of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland and the archdiocese of New York, draws as many as 3 million spectators each year.

History: New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade was started in 1762 — 14 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence — by a group of homesick Irish ex-patriots and soldiers stationed in the Colonies with the British army.

Parade: The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York is as big as they come, lasting five to six hours and involving more than 150,000 participants. Despite its massive size, the parade is still run by a volunteer organization.

Other Festivities: New York is full of other Irish-themed events on St. Patrick’s Day, from comedy festivals to pub crawls and open houses at Irish heritage centers.

www.nycstpatricksparade.org

Brian Jewell

Brian Jewell is the executive editor of The Group Travel Leader. In more than a decade of travel journalism he has visited 48 states and 25 foreign countries.