St. Patrick's Day in South Africa

I am not Irish, but growing up in the New York metropolitan area and going to Catholic school in the shadow of the Empire State Building meant one thing on St. Patrick's Day. Marching in and / or watching the annual St. Patrick's Parade on Fifth Avenue in New York City.  Later when I came of (drinking) age it also meant enjoying some time along parallel Third Avenue where there was an Irish bar or pub about every 3 feet from 33rd Street to 81st Street. I know because I stopped in for a pint in each and every one of them one St. Patrick's Day when I was young and foolish.

Donegal cottage

Over the years I managed to be in many other US cities with large Irish populations on St. Patricks's Day and was able to see how they celebrate. My sister lived in Chicago where the city dyes its river green for its annual St. Patrick's Day celebration and parade. Savannah does the same with their many park fountains and Indianapolis dyes its main canal green too. New Orleans holds a mini-Mardi Gras parade with floats bearing beads and other green swag. Denver holds the biggest St. Paddy's Day parade west of the Mississippi. Huge Irish populations in Washington DC and Boston guarantee that the streets are paved with a green stripe and their parades and parties are legendary. The White House dyes its fountain green too! Even San Francisco turns its City Hall green on St. Patrick's Day and puts on its own parade and Irish festival along with dozens of individual block parties.

Powerscourt

For 15 years, when one or both of my sons attended a private school in New Jersey, their spring break was consistently the middle two weeks of March. That meant their vacations almost always included March 17. As a result, we have spent many St. Patrick's Days outside the New York metropolitan area. On beaches in Hawaii, Costa Rica and Mexico, in sailing ports in the Caribbean, in Disneyworld, on ski slopes in Colorado and in the desert in Sedona. Every place celebrated in its own unique way, but celebrate they did. (We had planned to spend one St. Patrick's Day in Dublin itself, but the first Gulf War broke out in January that year and we decided to postpone our England and Ireland Spring Break visit to another time.)



And with all our mid-March travels, we learned you don't really need a parade or a festival to celebrate St. Patrick's Day like they do in New York. All you really need are some Irish people, corned beef and cabbage and a pint of Guinness. Preferably with a shamrock foam finish.

Irish people and a couple of Italians

 

Last year I spent St. Patrick's Day at the Jersey Shore (parade, bagpipes, kilts, Guinness) and later that night at our friends the McMenamys' annual St. Patrick's Day party (corned beef and cabbage and more Guinness Black and Tans).

After Hurricane Sandy destroyed the beach and boardwalk in Seaside Heights a few months before and put the famous rollercoaster in the drink, Seaside's parade honored the thousands of fire fighters and other first responders who came to the aid of Jersey Shore residents and business owners in the wake of Sandy. It was a triumph!

Happily for me St. Patrick's Day is not just celebrated in Ireland and the US but in cities all over the world. Definitely in places where there is a large Irish population like Sydney and London. But even where there is not a history of mass Irish immigration - like Rio, Paris and Cairo - people celebrate on March 17. Turns out everyone wants to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day!


In preparation for the big day, I looked to see how St. Patrick's Day will be celebrated in South Africa. I found that Cape Town and not Joburg has the most showy St. Patrick's Day celebration. Cape Town turns Table Mountain green on March 17. What a sight that must be! There isn't an actual parade but there are plenty of parties and Irish festivals planned including one outdoors at the V&A waterfront. I can't be there, but my sometime-guest-blogger and full-time husband Vince will!

Joburg doesn't put on a parade either, but you can still enjoy a Guinness on tap in any number of Irish pubs and shebeens on St. Patrick's Day. And even get some corned beef and cabbage at the weekend-long Montecasino or Emporer's Palace Irish Festivals. Jozi and Éirinn go Brách!