St Patrick's Day around the world

Reuters Reuters Reuters Reuters Reuters Reuters Reuters AP Reuters

IRISH EYES ARE SMILING: A reveller wears shamrock-shaped sunglasses during a St Patrick's Day parade near Trafalgar Square in central London.

ST PAT MINORS: Children ride in the back of a green Morris Minor during a St Patrick's Day parade near Trafalgar Square in central London.

LONDON FESTIVITIES: A reveller takes part in a St Patrick's Day parade near Trafalgar Square in central London.

SAINTLY CELEBRATIONS: A man dressed as St Patrick poses for pictures as Sydney Opera House is lit with green lights during St Patrick's Day celebrations.

G'DAY ST PATRICK: Sydney Opera House goes green to celebrate the feast day of Ireland's patron saint.

ON PARADE: People watch the St Patrick's Day parade in New York.

PRESIDENTIAL GREEN: US President Obama fittingly met with the Irish PM Brian Cowen on St Patrick's Day.

GOING GREEN: Revellers wait on 5th Ave for the start of the St Patrick's Day parade in new York.

ST PATRICK'S DAY IN IRELAND: A costumed reveller takes a drink of Guinness in the Holy Lands area of Belfast during the St Patrick's Day celebrations.

« Previous« PreviousNext »Next »

A White House St Patrick's Day

Relevant offers

The world turned Irish, at least for the day, as revelers around the world marked St Patrick's Day with bagpipes, dancing, emerald lights and green body paint.

New Yorkers and visitors from all over the globe lined Manhattan's Fifth Avenue a dozen deep for the world's oldest and largest St Patrick's Day parade on Wednesday, as crowds gathered along sun-warmed routes in Dublin and cities around the US to mark the holiday.

The day simultaneously served as a celebration of spring in many cities, with participants in parades and other outdoor gatherings basking in temperatures in the 60s after a harsh winter.

The 249th St Patrick's Day extravaganza in New York City was to be the last of the Big Apple's world-famous parades to take place before new restrictions go into effect April 1 requiring all parades to be shorter to save money.

The city issued the new rules in February, requiring all parades to trim routes by 25 percent and reduce time to less than five hours, changes estimated to save US$3.1 million in police expenses.

On Wednesday, Glen Gagnier of the 198th Army band lugged a 25-pound tuba up the 2.1-mile route from 44th Street to 86th Street but said it was so exhilarating he would have marched double the distance.

"When it's done I'll want to do it all over again," he said.

Some welcomed the idea of a pared-down event.

"It'll be good because people will be able to get where they're going easier," said Yogesh Pai, of Henderson, Texas, as he navigated the crowd with his five-year-old son.

St Patrick's celebrations around the US and in Dublin featured threads of the same - bagpipes, marching bands and crowds eager to see spring weather.

There was a mix of lighthearted cheer and serious politics at the White House, where President Barack Obama met with Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen.

Obama noted that 36 million Americans claim Irish ancestry, adding, "I'm sure more do on St Patrick's Day."

"And it's a testament I think to how close our two countries are that America has been shaped culturally, politically, economically by the incredible contributions of Irish Americans," he said.

As part of a marketing deal by Ireland's tourism agency, major world landmarks - including the Sydney Opera House, the London Eye, Toronto's CN Tower and New York's Empire State Building - were bathed in green lights.

The day is named after St Patrick, who introduced Christianity to Ireland about 1500 years ago and became the country's patron saint.

More than half a million people lined the 2-mile route of the flagship Dublin parade, which had a theme this year celebrating the global spread of the Irish.

Mixed in with the usual displays of US marching bands and Irish sporting heroes were dancing troupes from Africa and India, bands from Austria and France, giant insect floats from Spain, and Dubliners dancing with mops and dusters.

For some, the day was steeped in tradition. For others, like nine-month-old New Yorker Pasquale Ferrarelli, it was the only fitting occasion to wear a T-shirt reading "My 1st St Patrick's Day" and a matching bright green top hat.

His mother said the Fifth Avenue parade was the first stop before the family would gather later at home on Long Island for corned beef and cabbage, and soda bread.

"And we'll eat, drink, dance and sing," said Jennifer McLaughlin-Ferrarelli.

- AP