St. Patrick’s Day is just a few days away, and Americans are ready for the wearing of the green to pay homage to Ireland’s most famous Saint. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated every year on March 17 and the holiday recognizes the heritage and traditions of Irish culture. 

Today, Americans honor their Irish ancestry on St. Patrick’s Day with parades and other festivities. More than two-thirds of Americans will celebrate the holiday this year, according to Statista. U.S. consumers are expected to spend $7.2 billion on St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, up from $6.9 billion in 2023.

Large celebrations are held in several cities across the U.S., including New York, which will host the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday, March 16. In Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green to celebrate the Irish heritage of the city. Boston hosts several events, including a parade and an Irish festival, while Washington, D.C., hosts parades across the region complete with pub crawls. 

For more than 1,000 years, people have been marking the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick, who died during the fifth century. He is notably remembered for bringing Christianity to Ireland and driving the snakes out of the country. He is also noted for explaining the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of a clover, the shamrock.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than 31.5 million people living in America who claim Irish ancestry. New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have some of the highest numbers of people with Irish ancestry living in their states. 

Between 1845 and 1852, more than 1.5 million people left Ireland and settled in the U.S.  due to the effects of The Great Famine, when potato crops failed, causing mass starvation and death. However, St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the U.S. predate this wave of immigration by more than 100 years.

The first St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were started by the Charitable Irish Society of Boston in 1737. The first parade was held in 1763, in New York City, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military took to the streets.