St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day is a typical Irish celebration with a lot of drinking and frolicking. On the 17th March Dublin becomes one large amusement park. Irish government founded this festival in 1996. They wanted to organise something in St. Patrick’s honor. They also wanted to organise a festival that Irish people would be proud of.
St. Patrick was a Romano – Briton and Christian missionary and is the most generally recognized patron of Ireland also known as Apostle of Ireland. He brought Catholic religion to Ireland and chase away pagans. His symbol is a three-leaf clover. He used it to illustrate the Christian teachings of three divine persons as one God to pagan king and latter to Irish people.
Original colour of St. Patrick was blue but over the years the green colour and its association with Saint Patrick’s Day grew. Until now days Irish people wear green ribbons and shamrocks.
The first Saint Patrick’s festival was held in Dublin on 17th March 1996. The biggest festival in Ireland is held in Dublin. The festival lasts five or six days. Often there are around one million visitors, who take part in festivities that include concerts, outdoor theatre performances and fireworks. As Dublin, many other cities, towns and villages in Ireland hold their own festivals and parades, including Cork, Belfast, Derry, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.
The biggest celebrations outside Dublin are in Downpatrick where Saint Patrick is rumoured to be buried.
Saint Patrick’s Day is also celebrated in other countries around the world. Those are: Argentina, Canada, Great Britain, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and USA.
In USA there are many parades and celebrations. The Chicago river is dyed green every single year, the north White House fountain is also dyed green and USA sometimes publish post stamps with the motive of St. Patrick’s Day.
A habit related with St. Patrick Day is to drink a lot of beer. An advertisement for Guinness beer says: “Everyone’s Irish on March 17th.”
I think that festivals on St. Patrick’s Day are interesting and I hope I will be once able to take part in one of them.
Hana Rant, 9.c