St Patrick's Day
Ireland
The banisher of snakes (though some may have crawled back into the country in the intervening centuries), the national celebration of Ireland's patron saint traditionally meant a paid public holiday and the excuse to drown the shamrock. Ramped up to festival level no less, the holiday is now a showcase for all sorts of divillment, dancing, drinking, drama and debauchery.
An uneasy mix of old and new with parades of scouts, tractors, guides, marching bands, headless monsters, dancing troupes, clowns and jesters (and that's just the onlookers) the festival marks a kickstart to Spring if not summer (well an Irish summer, when the rain is warm)
With the main parade held in the capital, just short of greening the Liffey, almost half a million of the city's inhabitants gather along a two mile to wave little green flags, shake their shamrocks and get jiggy with it.
Local hotels include The Beacon, The Merrion and The Westbury.
An uneasy mix of old and new with parades of scouts, tractors, guides, marching bands, headless monsters, dancing troupes, clowns and jesters (and that's just the onlookers) the festival marks a kickstart to Spring if not summer (well an Irish summer, when the rain is warm)
With the main parade held in the capital, just short of greening the Liffey, almost half a million of the city's inhabitants gather along a two mile to wave little green flags, shake their shamrocks and get jiggy with it.
Local hotels include The Beacon, The Merrion and The Westbury.