Painting Chicago Green For St. Patrick’s Day!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all! It’s a day of reflection turned celebration and here’s why!
Today is the day to drink green beer, eat corn beaf and cabbage, and celebrate the “Luck o’ The Irish!”
As History.com reports:
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17, the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast–on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.
That means only one thing in The Windy City:
Painting The Chicago River Green!
After a cancellation in 2020, the city surprised everyone by painting the river last year – and now, since the covid restrictions have been mostly lifted, the city did it again!
It’s a St. Patrick’s Day tradition: the city of Chicago dyes their river green, as thousands of fans arrive to celebrate the big day!
Yes, you will see lots of green apparel as well as beverages as the town goes wild for the Irish!
The city of Chicago began the “painting” of the river green in 1962.
As wikipedia reports, the inspiration for the stunt came from pollution-control workers, who used various chemical dyes to trace illegal sewage discharges. Yep, they got the idea while looking for “sewage discharge!”
That first year, the city dumped 100 pounds of dye into the river, which left it green for an entire week!
Officials say they now se less than 25 pounds of dye, and it’s vegetable-based, so safe to everything in the water!
Here is a look at how they “paint” the river:
After the spray down, then smaller boats stir it all in…the entire ceremony takes a half hour, then it’s on to the next celebration – a parade – followed by a day long celebration that lasts well into the night…
As you can see, the river continues to be a place for tour boats and kayakers, all sharing the now green water and the city celebrates the holiday!
Of course, if you were there all of this fun would make you hungry – well, I’ve got just the thing:
Big ‘n’ Little’s is one of my favorite dive joints – wildly burgers like this one that is deep-fried, but so much more!
Click here to see their “Big Mack Daddy!”
If you fall in love with the city and want to buy a place, why not make it Al Capone’s place?
That’s right, the Mobster lived here and it was for sale a while back – click for details not he house and the secret passage:
There are so many things to love about Chicago – like the incredible Lakeshore Drive along Lake Michigan:
I looked at the city through six of my favorite photos, which you can see by clicking here:
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Happy St. Patricks Day to everyone!
Categories: Art, chicago, Exotic Travel, Food, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
johnrieber 
I read about this before somewhere, but I can’t remember where. Did you post about this before?
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Yes, I shot this footage in 2017, but shared again because the tradition is back again after a pandemic pause!
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This is the greatest St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Paint the Chicago river green! And to their credit, they don’t reveal their secret ‘recipe’.
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I was born there and moved to Michigan when I was two, but still one of my favorite cities. I was there once for the dyed river and parade. so fun –
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I have zero Irish connections, so never celebrate St Patrick’s Day. It was a big deal when I lived in London, which has many people with Irish backgounds who go crazy on the 17th. They are known as ‘Plastic Paddys’, as many have never even set foot in Ireland. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, far more people celebrate than the number of Irish in this country – any excuse to party!
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👍👍
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you!
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It looks like St Patrick’s day is celebrated n style in Chicago…Love the Green river as long as it is healthy for the wildlife and then I won’t 🙂
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I point out in the story that it is, indeed, very safe!
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