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Generally, the best parties take place at traditional Irish pubs. Many cities have pub crawls, where Irish beer-craving patrons hop aboard a bus and stop at pub after pub, partying and chugging green beer and Irish whiskey. Most of the pubs also feature Irish cuisine like corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew and shepherd's pie.
In Ireland, the celebration is huge countrywide, especially in Dublin. A St. Patrick's Day parade is held in the city and is a part of a five-day festival. -
Some of the most popular features of St. Patrick's Day parties, aside from the beer and Irish grub, are the traditional aspects of the holiday. Shamrocks and four leaf clovers, thought to bring luck, are usually sprinkled throughout parties and worn on clothing to celebrate the day.
Blue was originally the color associated with Saint Patrick, but the official color of the holiday was changed to green because Irish people identify with it. Wearing a shamrock on clothing signifies the "wearing of the green," a popular Irish phrase seen as a sign of loyalty to the Roman Catholic religion.
As a result, partygoers wear green on St. Patrick's Day and at St. Patrick's Day parties. If they don't, it is tradition in America that they are pinched. In fact, Americans take the green Irish tradition so far, that Chicago dyes its river green every year on St. Patrick's Day. -
St. Patrick's Day parties at pubs are usually filled with traditional Irish folk music, like "Danny Boy," "Finnegan's Wake" and "The Unicorn Song." People also dress up as leprechauns, and there are cut-outs of leprechauns posted on walls at St. Patrick's Day parties as well.
This is because leprechauns are creatures of Irish mythology known for their gold fetishes and pots o' gold at the end of rainbows. The leprechaun is just one of many Irish myths and traditions that are featured at St. Patrick's Day parties. - On St. Patrick's Day, a variety of St. Patrick's Day parades are thrown around town. Generally, these parades serve as a pre-party of sorts.
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If you are throwing your own St. Patrick's Day Party, include some traditional and entertaining St. Patrick's Day games, such as pin the shamrock on the leprechaun. Guests are blindfolded, and then they try to pin a green paper shamrock on a paper cut-out leprechaun's pot o' gold.
Another game is a pot of gold tossing competition, with guests trying to toss the most faux-gold coins into makeshift pots of gold.
