What did you do for St. Patrick’s Day when you were younger? There are so many different traditions!

One tradition is the St. Patrick’s Day parade. The parade is probably a tradition that everyone has heard of. The largest St. Patrick’s Day parade is in Chicago, where they also dye the river green. The parades take place all over the world in different cities with different traditions.

Another tradition is eating corned beef and cabbage. When Irish immigrants first arrived in the US, pork was a more expensive meat to come by in Ireland, so they didn’t get to eat bacon. Since they were close to the Jewish quarter in New York, corned beef was the next best thing.

The next tradition is green beer. Beer and drinking are very much associated with St. Patrick’s Day. However, Irish pubs used to have to close due to a law. This law was made to prevent excessive drinking. But that law was eventually replaced so that everyone could get as drunk as they wanted.

One other tradition is the Shamrock Shake. This drink was released by McDonald’s in 1970. The character “Uncle O’Grimacey” was specially created to advertise this drink.

Another tradition is dying rivers green. This tradition started in Chicago in 1962. The first death of the river was by accident. The first dye used was actually found to harm the river so now a vegetable dye is used.

The final tradition is calling it St. Patty’s Day. Patty can refer to Patricia, a burger, or many other things. This is not the correct name for St. Patrick’s Day, as the correct spelling is St. Paddy’s Day.