St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations: parades, tradition, and green galore!

St Patrick’s Day is March 17th.

Since 1824 with only a few interruptions like world wars and Covid and The Great Unpleasantness, Savannah has honored Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, with a celebration and parade on March 17th, the anniversary of his death in 461 AD.

This year, 2025, March 17th is on a Monday. Hilton Head Island has celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, for, give or take, 40 years. Their parade will be on Sunday, March 16th. So, if you want to, and you have enough stamina and are totally crazy about parades, you could go to both. The parade on Hilton Head will begin at 2 PM at the beach end of Pope Avenue which will be completely closed to traffic at noon. You need to get there way before that, early, really early. Take sunscreen, an umbrella, Kleenex for the porta potty, a hat, comfortable shoes, a chair if you want to sit down somewhere and leave your snarly dog and any claustrophobic family members at home in front of the TV.

Going to the parade in Savannah is a tad more complicated.

For one thing, it is the second largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the United States. Chicago might debate that. New York City is first. How to go? Best choice would be to rent a hotel room on the parade route. If that doesn’t work for you, here are some suggestions on how to become part of this mad mad marvelous mayhem. Plan ahead.

If you engage the services of a tour company to provide transportation and bleacher seats on the parade route, relax, let them worry about the traffic and getting you to where you need to be.

On your own? As I said before, go early, crack of dawn early. Find a parking space on the west side of town, on the Talmadge Bridge side of town, so you will have no trouble going home to Carolina. A public parking garage is best. Call ahead and see if you need to make a reservation. Do not even think about parking somewhere that isn’t a marked designated parking space and stay away from empty spaces in a private parking lot. They mean private.

Your car will be towed. This is hallelujah time for tow companies, and they are most efficient in dragging your car to the outskirts of nowhere and locking the gates behind it.

Some people drag coolers with food and stuff. You can. Lots of people do. Not my thing. Some hotels offer buffet breakfasts. Call around. Reserve a place. Did you notice I say ‘reserve’ and ‘plan’ and ‘early’ a lot? Excursions Unlimited/Kelly Tours rent grandstand seats along the parade route.

Treat yourself. Beats carrying a chair around trying to find a modicum of space with a view. Seventeen zillion people will be putting up chairs lining the curb of the parade route very early in the morning.

Two hundred zillion people will be walking en masse on the sidewalk behind them, some going this away, some going that away, in the morning mostly vertical, some chattering in dialects like Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey.

‘Tis an unholy mess. This parade began as a family affair. It still is. Really. If you stay south of Broughton Street, that is. From there north to River Street it be different. I’m not going to even try to explain.

After eight o’clock Mass, which is open to the public, and offered in the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist on Abercorn Street, the parade’s Grand Marshal, assorted clergy and dignitaries pour out of this magnificent Gothic Revival’s center door, find a place to stand on the front steps that are as large as a basketball court and the St Patrick’s Day parade begins.

Here come the Irish, all ages, riding in convertibles top down, family name placard on car door, some sauntering along, doffing a hat, sporting a walking stick, maybe a shillelagh, others pushing baby strollers, pulling little ones in wagons, papas carrying children on their shoulders, mamas wearing one of those newfangled baby carriers, teenagers riding skateboards, Kellys and O’Brians and Whelans and Currans and Fogartys and Butlers and McCarthys and Bremers and Lyons and Mulherins. All wearing green, an encyclopedia of green, people jump up from chairs at curbside and run out to give a friend or neighbor parading past a kiss and a hug.

Members of the Hibernian Society stroll by, dapper and debonair.

Next door to Cathedral, the Sisters of Mercy lean out of windows of St. Vincent’s Academy and wave at former students.

People smiling and waving and laughing, cheeks smeared with red, red lipstick kisses.

A happy time. A family time.

St. Patrick’s Day when everyone is Irish.

The Mayor said so.

Put on your green. Wear your most comfortable shoes.

It’s time to celebrate.

Erin go Bragh.

Annelore Harrell’s journey is a tapestry woven with fascinating experiences and extraordinary accomplishments. Even at 92 in 2025, Annelore’s energy and zest for life continue to inspire. Annelore Harrell’s story is a testament to living with passion, resilience, and an unquenchable thirst for adventure.