Ireland's Unique 'Green' Holiday

Held annually on March 17, St. Patrick's Day will dye Ireland green with lights, hats, beer...

St. Patrick's Day has been a religious holiday for over 1,000 years in Ireland, commemorating St. Patrick - one of the country's most famous patron saints.

Lễ Thánh Patrick: Ngày lễ ‘màu xanh’ độc đáo của người Ireland

The festival takes place with the characteristic green color covering. (Source: British Council)

There are many myths surrounding his life that have become ingrained in Irish culture, the most famous being the story of Patrick banishing snakes from the island.

He stood on a hill in Ireland and preached to drive the snakes on the island into the sea.

Scholars believe that this story is an allegory of Saint Patrick's eradication of paganism from Ireland.

Legend has it that he used shamrock, a native Irish leaf, to explain to the people the doctrine of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in Christianity.

It is these stories that have associated St. Patrick's Day with indispensable symbols: the shamrock symbolizes the rebirth of Spring, the snake symbolizes Patrick's "snake-chasing" story, and the leprechaun shows the belief in little men and women with extraordinary powers to do good and eliminate evil.

Unique parade in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Source: Country Living)

St. Patrick's Day is a public holiday in Ireland, people stop their daily activities to join in the festive atmosphere.

The most famous activity of the holiday is the parade. People dress up, walk down the streets, dance, play music and toss out items such as candy, jewelry, cabbages and carrots.

Typically, the parade consists of large trucks decorated in green. Most small towns in Ireland have their own “mini” parade. In the village of Dripsey, there used to be a parade that was only 23 metres long, between the village pubs.

St. Patrick's Day is not only celebrated in Ireland but is now celebrated all over the world : the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, among other countries.

The Chicago River is dyed green for St. Patrick's Day. (Source: Country Living)

On this day, people wear green. In major cities, green lights are shown at famous landmarks such as the Colosseum in Rome or the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

In the US, the Chicago River was dyed green with nearly 20kg of dye. Students at Miami University in Ohio even have a tradition of drinking a special green beer called 'Saint Patrick's'.

(synthetic)

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