Chicago is without question one of the best places to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and this year looks to be no different. For one, it’s the 60th anniversary of the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which will likely draw even larger crowds than usual.
Scheduled for Saturday, March 14th, the parade will begin at 12pm. As usual, it will start at the intersection of Balbo Dr. and Columbus Dr. and proceed north on Columbus Dr. to Monroe St. The viewing stand will be located in front of Buckingham Fountain. Those that can’t make it to the parade but still want to watch are in luck this year, because the parade will be broadcast live on ABC (Channel 7).
If you’re interested in watching the dyeing of the Chicago River, it happens at 9:30am on that same Saturday. The best place to view this is from the East side of the Michigan Ave. bridge, the West side of the Columbus Dr. bridge, or upper and lower Wacker Dr. between Michigan Ave. and Columbus Dr. And, if you’re interested in some of the history behind the dyeing of the Chicago river, visit the city’s St. Patrick’s Day webpage.
For those looking to do some drinking after the parade, there will surely be festivities at all the established Irish pubs downtown: The Kerryman, Poag Mahone’s, Timothy O’Toole’s, Fadó Irish Pub, Kitty O’Shea’s and Emerald Loop.
Finally, renowned Celtic band Gaelic Storm will be playing back to back shows on Friday, March 13th and Saturday, March 14th at the House of Blues in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. For more information and tickets, visit the band’s tour page.
