Painting Chicago Green For St. Patrick’s Day!
Saturday, March 15 is a very important day for Chicagoans: it’s the day they “paint the river green” in anticipation of their greatest day of the year!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all! It happens on March 17th, and it’s a day of reflection turned celebration and here’s why!
It’s 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!
It’s an annual celebration, and the official opening of the St. Patrick’s Day celebration – because in Chicago just one day isn’t enough!
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! Here’s how they do it!
Officials say they now se less than 25 pounds of dye, and it’s vegetable-based, so safe to everything in the water!
As you can see, people love to line up and watch as 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!
And water isn’t the only thing painted green:
There is plenty of green beer to help you out…and if you want to celebrate with a Corned Beef or Pastrami Sandwich, head here:
Manny’s is a Chicago classic, and they of course have green beer to go with your classic sandwich…see their menu close up here:
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 “paint the river green” day in preparation for St. Patricks Day! I you like this story, please share on social media – thanks!
Categories: Art, chicago, Exotic Travel, Food, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food
johnrieber 
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, John, to you and all of your readers!
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Thank you and Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you as well! I just posted this look at painting Chicago’s river green while eating mile high sandwiches and drinking green beer! https://biteeatrepeat.com/2025/03/17/painting-chicagos-river-green-for-st-patricks-day-and-mile-high-sandwiches-too/
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I think of this every St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a well kept secret recipe.
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I remember you blogging about this before. Great post, John!
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Thanks for the memories … as way back we had to go to Ford, Detroit almost annually, have had a few stays in ‘next door’ Chicago also . . . but never when the river has been green 🙂 ! Love your super photo of Lakeshore Drive . . . and, would not mind a pile of pastrami on rye at the moment either . . .
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Ahh, need some green beer to go with the green water! Loved the movie The Fugitive with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. A favorite quote is when one of the investigators says to Tommy: “If they can dye the river green today, why can’t they dye it blue the other 364 days of the year?”
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HA! Yes, that is a terrific thriller – beautifully directed and acted…green beer for everyone! Cheers!
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Green beer is fun. I was relieved the pastrami sandwich wasn’t green. That would’ve been a bit much.
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HA! I think they respect the sandwich too much for that! Thanks for the comment!
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😂🤣
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