Créé par Emilie, le 20 juin 2026
Votre guide Ryo
8 Countries to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17th
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Every March 17th, the entire planet dresses in green, sports the shamrock, and raises a glass of Guinness to Ireland's health. St. Patrick's Day is much more than a simple Irish national holiday: it has become one of the most widespread popular celebrations in the world, carried by millions of Irish descendants scattered across the globe since the great waves of emigration in the 19th century. Whether you're in Dublin to experience it in its country of origin, in Chicago to see the river turn green, or in Tokyo to witness Asia's largest parade, there's no shortage of ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. A world tour of 8 countries where the celebration is in full swing on March 17th.
1. Ireland: Dublin, the Authentic Birthplace of St. Patrick's Day
Impossible to talk about St. Patrick's Day without starting where it all began: Ireland. While the first official celebration of the holiday took place in Boston in 1737, and the first major parade on Irish soil only dates back to 1931, nowhere in the world is there an atmosphere as authentic as Dublin to experience March 17th. Since 1995, the festivities have transformed into a true five-day festival, mixing spectacular parades, traditional music concerts, street theater plays, and circus acts.
The heart of the celebration naturally beats in the emblematic district of Temple Bar, a real village within the city where Irish pubs overflow with live folk music, laughter, and creamy pints. The Temple Bar Pub (47-48 Temple Bar, Dublin 2, D02 N725, rated 4.6/5 on Google) is one of the most essential addresses to immerse yourself in the atmosphere. The celebration extends to St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, which gives its precise name to this celebration, and to Trinity College, where students and tourists mingle in a joyful green chaos.
The national parade crosses the city center, with its extravagant floats, brass bands, and dancers in traditional costumes. Thousands of Dubliners sport the green top hat reminiscent of the legendary leprechaun, that mischievous imp of Irish folklore said to guard a treasure at the foot of the rainbow. To extend the adventure before or after the celebration, visiting Dublin independently is an unforgettable experience thanks to the 20 points of interest that the Irish capital has to offer.
The Ha'penny Bridge, this 19th-century cast iron bridge spanning the Liffey, finds itself at the heart of the excitement, while O'Connell Street welcomes a delirious crowd from all over Europe. Typical culinary specialties are also highlighted: Irish stew, soda bread and of course Guinness, brewed just a few kilometers away at the famous St. James's Gate brewery. To learn all about what to eat in Dublin, check out our guide to Dublin's culinary specialties.
Download the audio-guided tour to discover Dublin on foot and independently
Make the most of your stay in Dublin to explore the city well beyond the St. Patrick's Day festivities. The Ryo audio-guided tour to visit Dublin offers you 20 commented points of interest, to follow at your own pace, without a guide, without a group, and without time constraints. From the Georgian houses of Merrion Square to the statues of Oscar Wilde, passing by Custom House and the Famine memorial, the app tells you Dublin's story like a narrative, not like a tourist catalog.
2. Scotland: Edinburgh Celebrates Irish and Celtic Roots
It may seem surprising, but it's actually an often unknown historical fact: Saint Patrick was of Scottish origin. His real name was Maewyn Succat, and he was born in the British Isles before being captured and enslaved in Ireland in the 5th century, before becoming its evangelist. Edinburgh is therefore nothing like a secondary destination for St. Patrick's Day: the city embraces it with particular fervor, mixing Irish culture and Scottish Celtic heritage in the most enthusiastic festive cocktail.
The lively pubs and bars of the Scottish capital, many of which have Irish roots, organize fantastic celebrations throughout the week leading up to March 17th. From live folk music concerts to traditional ceilidh dancing, the city vibrates with communicative energy. The Grassmarket district transforms into a nerve center of Irish festivities, with its street entertainment, street food stands, and outdoor concerts. The Three Sisters bar (139 Cowgate, Edinburgh EH1 1JS, rated 4.1/5 on Google) is one of the flagship addresses of Edinburgh's St. Patrick's Day, with its outdoor bars, street food stands, and live entertainment that lasts until the early hours.
The Edinburgh St. Patrick's Day Charity Ball is another highlight of the season, an elegant gala organized by the local Irish community at the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa, which brings together lovers of Irish culture each year in a sumptuous setting. Edinburgh's Irish pubs also offer storytelling sessions, folk concerts, and dance classes, so that everyone can dive into the Irish universe, even without a drop of Celtic blood in their veins. Malones Edinburgh pub (242 Morrison Street, Edinburgh EH3 8DT, rated 4.1/5 on Google) is also unmissable on the evening of March 17th, with its doors open from 11 am to 1 am.
After the celebration, take time to stroll through the old town and discover Edinburgh's incredible riches. Edinburgh Castle which proudly dominates the skyline from its volcanic rock, The Royal Mile, this legendary artery connecting the castle to Holyrood Palace, or St. Giles Cathedral with its luminous stained glass: so many magical places to explore during your stay. Don't hesitate to let the app guide you through the cobbled streets and secret courtyards of this extraordinary city.
Download the audio-guided tour to discover Edinburgh on foot and independently
To explore Edinburgh beyond St. Patrick's Day festivities, the Ryo audio-guided tour to visit Edinburgh lists 24 essential points of interest commented in detail. From the Scottish Parliament to the Scottish National Gallery, from Calton Hill to the legendary Scott Monument, let yourself be told the fascinating story of the Scottish capital, at your own pace. To prepare your stay, also consider consulting our selection of Edinburgh's culinary specialties, ideal for savoring the best addresses between two ceilidh sessions! And to fully enjoy the city, find everything you need to know to Visit Edinburgh.
3. England: London Goes Green for St. Patrick's Day
With more than 500,000 residents of Irish origin, London is home to one of the largest Irish communities in the world outside of Ireland itself. It's therefore not surprising that the British capital is among the cities that celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the most enthusiasm in Europe. London's festivities represent one of the largest St. Patrick's Day celebrations outside Ireland, with an organization that mobilizes the entire city for several days.
The highlight remains the great parade, which winds through the streets from Piccadilly Circus to the legendary Trafalgar Square, where an outdoor festival takes over with live Irish music, dance performances, storytelling, and food stands. On the menu: steaming Irish stew, freshly baked soda bread and, obviously, pints of Guinness flowing freely. Traditional Irish pubs, from Camden to Covent Garden, fill with revelers who come to dance to folk music until the end of the night. A traditional ball generally closes the festivities with style.
What makes London's St. Patrick's Day particularly successful is the diversity of its audience: you meet Irish expats nostalgic for their native island, Londoners of all origins who seize the opportunity to party, and tourists from around the world who come to swell the ranks of the festivities. The bars of Covent Garden and the Soho district offer special programs throughout the weekend, with concerts by Irish bands on European tour.
St. Patrick's Day is obviously an excellent excuse to discover or rediscover London in depth. After the parade at Trafalgar Square, extend your walk to Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster, or stroll to Buckingham Palace to admire the royal residence dressed in green for the occasion. A beautiful way to combine festivities and cultural discovery. Find all the must-sees of the British capital on our page to Visit London.
Download the audio-guided tour to discover London on foot and independently
Whether you're in London for St. Patrick's Day or another occasion, the Ryo audio-guided tour to visit London invites you to explore 20 emblematic places of the British capital, commented with humor and passion. From the London Eye to Covent Garden market, from Westminster Abbey to St Martin-in-the-Fields church, let yourself be guided at your own pace in one of the world's most fascinating cities.
4. United States: New York, Boston and Chicago, Temples of St. Patrick's Day
Did you know that the first St. Patrick's Day celebration in the world didn't take place in Ireland, but in the United States, in Boston, in 1737? This is explained by the early and massive presence of Irish immigrants on American soil. Today still, nearly 10.8% of the American population claims Irish origins — about seven times the total population of Ireland! The United States is therefore the country that celebrates St. Patrick's Day with the most intensity outside the Emerald Isle itself, and three cities stand out particularly.
New York: The World's Largest Parade Since 1762
New York hosts the oldest and largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world, with origins dating back to 1762. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people dressed in green march down Fifth Avenue, from 44th to 82nd Street. The procession passes in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral (5th Ave, New York, NY 10022, rated 4.8/5 on Google), a majestic neo-Gothic monument that takes on its full meaning on this Irish national holiday. The parade begins at 11 am and attracts between 150,000 and 200,000 participants each year, not counting the two million spectators gathered on the sidewalks.
Boston: A Quarter of the City of Irish Origin
In Boston, which has nearly a quarter of its population of Irish origin, St. Patrick's Day is almost a matter of state. The city is also doubly celebrated this day, since March 17th coincides with the commemoration of the British evacuation of Boston during the War of Independence — a historical coincidence that gives even more flavor to the celebration. The parade takes place in the South Boston neighborhood (affectionately known as 'Southie'), with floats, brass bands, and thousands of participants. Concerts by Irish groups, a film festival, and numerous events in local bars complete the program.
Chicago: The River Dyed Green for Over 60 Years
It's probably the most iconic spectacle of American St. Patrick's Day: each year, the city of Chicago dyes the Chicago River bright green, a tradition that has lasted since the 1960s and attracts immense crowds of spectators. The vegetable dye is poured into the river on the Saturday preceding March 17th, and the water instantly takes on an absolutely spectacular emerald green hue. The celebration then continues with a large parade through downtown streets, outdoor concerts around Grant Park and lively festivities throughout the weekend in the city's many Irish bars.
5. Canada: Montreal, Birthplace of the Oldest North American Parade
Canada maintains very strong historical ties with Ireland. The 19th-century Irish famine sent waves of immigrants there, who profoundly marked Canadian culture and identity, particularly in Quebec and Newfoundland. But it's especially Montreal that shines with particular brilliance on March 17th, as the city hosts the oldest St. Patrick's Day parade in North America: it was first celebrated in 1824, making it 200 years of uninterrupted history of Irish enthusiasm in the heart of francophone Quebec.
Montreal's parade is a three-hour spectacle that mobilizes hundreds of floats, brass bands, local celebrities, and thousands of participants marching down the main De Maisonneuve artery. What makes Montreal's St. Patrick's Day so unique is this unlikely cultural crossroads between Irish heritage and the French language, in a city that has made its multiple identities a strength. Montrealers throw themselves into the celebration with typical Quebec generosity, transforming downtown Irish pubs into real open-air concert venues. Toronto and Vancouver are not to be outdone, but Montreal remains the undisputed capital of Canadian St. Patrick's Day.
In Newfoundland, where Irish roots are even deeper, the celebrations take on an even more intimate and authentic tone, with musical vigils, traditional dances, and stories passed down from generation to generation, recalling the popular origins of this holiday that celebrates much more than a saint: an entire people and their ability to overcome adversity.
6. Australia: Sydney Illuminates Its Opera House in Green for St. Patrick's Day
Australia maintains a complex and deep historical relationship with Ireland. From the 18th century, thousands of Irish were deported to what was then a British penal colony, and the 19th-century famine amplified this migratory movement. Result: Australia today hosts one of the world's largest Irish diasporas, and St. Patrick's Day is celebrated there with an intensity that rivals Dublin itself.
It's Sydney that organizes the most impressive festivities. The festival and parade take over the historic district of The Rocks (New South Wales 2000, Sydney), this colonial district that has retained its unique character with its cobblestone streets and old warehouses converted into modern spaces. There, in this historically charged setting, the festival traditionally begins at noon with live Irish music concerts, traditional dance performances, Irish language classes open to all, typical food stands, and carefully selected Irish crafts. The highlight of the show? The Sydney Opera House lights up in green for the occasion, offering an absolutely stunning night spectacle from the harbor.
In Melbourne, the festivities take place in a more intimate but equally warm atmosphere, with events organized in downtown Irish pubs like P.J. O'Brien's in Southbank or Hopscotch on the Yarra River. Australian universities, which have many Irish exchange students, also organize their own gatherings, reinforcing the popular and universal character of the celebration. St. Patrick's Day in Australia has this particular charm of taking place in the middle of the southern hemisphere summer, adding a touch of sunshine and relaxation to a historically rather Nordic tradition.
7. Argentina: Buenos Aires, South American St. Patrick's Day
Argentina is perhaps the most surprising destination on this list, and yet: the Irish community in Buenos Aires is one of the oldest and most important in South America. The first Irish immigrants arrived in Argentina in the 1820s, fleeing poverty and British domination, and left an indelible mark on the country's identity. Today, Buenos Aires celebrates St. Patrick's Day with a fervor that rivals Dublin, with approximately 500,000 participants each year — a figure that rivals the Irish capital itself.
The festivities are mainly concentrated in the Palermo district and in the Belgrano district, which houses an important part of the local Irish diaspora. The streets come alive with a large colorful parade that crosses the city center, accompanied by traditional Irish music and all kinds of entertainment. Buenos Aires' Irish pubs, true institutions in the city, transform for the occasion into concert venues open to the street, creating a collective party atmosphere that extends well beyond midnight, in the purest Argentinian style. The fusion between Irish culture and porteña festive exuberance gives birth to a unique, warm, and unforgettable celebration.
What makes Buenos Aires' St. Patrick's Day particularly touching is the sincerity of this attachment to Irish roots often distant but always alive. Families whose surname has been Irish for five generations, descendants of migrants who left everything to cross the South Atlantic, meet every March 17th to share a common heritage in this city of a thousand faces. A moving testimony to culture's power to transcend distances and centuries.
8. Japan: Tokyo Hosts Asia's Largest St. Patrick's Day Parade
The most unexpected destination on our St. Patrick's Day world tour is undoubtedly Japan. And yet, Tokyo hosts the largest and oldest St. Patrick's Day parade in Asia, organized without interruption since 1992 — with only a forced pause during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Irish diaspora in Japan is tiny, less than 2,000 people, but this is precisely what makes this phenomenon so fascinating: Tokyo's St. Patrick's Day is carried single-handedly by the Japanese themselves, attracted to Irish culture with encyclopedic passion and precision.
The 'I Love Ireland' festival takes place over two days in Yoyogi Park (2-1 Yoyogikamizonocho, Shibuya, Tokyo 151-0052, rated 4.4/5 on Google), a huge park in the heart of Shibuya. Irish cuisine stands, folk music concerts, Irish dance demonstrations, and even Irish classes (the Gaelic language) are offered to the public, who come in masses despite the language barrier. The great parade then goes up Omotesandō avenue, one of Tokyo's most elegant axes, with its brass bands, jig dancers, and Irish breed dogs — Irish Wolfhounds and Irish Setters.
What is particularly remarkable about Tokyo's celebrations is the depth of Japanese attachment to traditional Irish music. Since the Riverdance show conquered Japan in the 1990s, Irish dance schools have multiplied in Tokyo and Yokohama. There is even an entirely Japanese traditional Irish music group, Dé Domhnaigh, who have many fans throughout the country. And Makoto Nakatsui, from Hokkaido, is one of the rare master craftsmen making Irish bagpipes (uilleann pipes) in the world. Tokyo's St. Patrick's Day is much more than an imported celebration: it's a true dialogue between two cultures, Irish and Japanese, who find in music, art, and literature a meeting ground as unexpected as it is luminous.
In conclusion, St. Patrick's Day is much more than a simple Irish celebration: it has become a global cultural phenomenon that brings together millions of people on all continents every March 17th, in a unique festive communion around the shamrock, the color green, and Celtic music. From the authenticity of Dublin pubs to Tokyo's incredible Japanese enthusiasm, passing through New York's parade majesty and the sweetness of Australian summer on Sydney harbor, each country offers its own version of the celebration, colored by its history and diaspora. Wherever you choose to celebrate March 17th, you'll find around the corner of a pub or by a green river something of the Irish soul: this natural generosity, this contagious joie de vivre, and this ability to transform any place in the world into a piece of Ireland for the duration of a day.
Frequently Asked Questions About St. Patrick's Day Around the World
When does St. Patrick's Day take place?
St. Patrick's Day is celebrated every year on March 17th. This date commemorates the death of Saint Patrick, Ireland's evangelist, in the 5th century. In Ireland, it has been a public holiday since 1903. If March 17th falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is also a holiday.
Which country celebrates St. Patrick's Day the most outside Ireland?
The United States is the country that celebrates St. Patrick's Day with the most intensity outside Ireland. New York, Boston, and Chicago organize gigantic festivities each year, inherited from massive Irish immigration in the 19th century. About 10.8% of Americans claim Irish origins, approximately 35 million people.
Why is St. Patrick's Day color green?
Green is associated with St. Patrick's Day for several reasons: it evokes the shamrock used by Saint Patrick to explain the concept of the Trinity to the Irish, it refers to Ireland's nickname 'the Emerald Isle' due to its verdant landscapes, and it symbolizes the arrival of spring on March 17th. Popular legend also has it that wearing green protects from leprechaun pranks.
What is the ideal city to celebrate St. Patrick's Day for the first time?
Dublin naturally remains the reference destination to experience St. Patrick's Day in all its authenticity. The Irish capital transforms the celebration into a five-day festival, with spectacular parades, pub concerts, and a unique atmosphere. To prepare your visit, our audio-guided tour to visit Dublin will allow you to enjoy the city well before and well after the March 17th festivities.
Where is the world's oldest St. Patrick's Day parade?
The world's oldest St. Patrick's Day parade is in New York, where it has been organized since 1762. Montreal's parade, dating back to 1824, is the oldest St. Patrick's Day parade in North America after New York's.