Countries that Celebrate St. Patrick's Day 2024

Saint Patrick’s Day is a religious and cultural celebration held on 17th March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick- the chief patron saint of Ireland. It’s celebrated by people of different backgrounds, such as the United States, Australia, Canada, and other countries far from Ireland, like Russia, Singapore, and Japan.

Countries That Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

The worldwide spread of St. Patrick’s Day was partially due to the 1845’s Great Potato Famine that forced more than a million Irish to emigrate. Today, more than 200 countries celebrate it.

Here we look at St. Patrick's Day celebration in a few of the sovereign states, including:

• Ireland (Dublin)
• United States
• Russia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Scotland
• U.K. (Birmingham)

Dublin, Ireland

Probably, any St. Patrick's Day you'll attend will be pale compared to what will be in Dublin. The rest of the world looks up to it for the celebration's standards.

Here, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t just a day, but several. After all, no activity could get more typically Irish than walking through the Guinness legacy’s mother ship -- the Guinness storehouse.

The festival is characterized by numerous parades, live music, fun affairs, a 5k race, and prominent green displays, like lighting up iconic buildings with green light. United States. While St. Patrick’s Day isn’t an official holiday in the U.S., it’s still widely observed to celebrate the Irish culture.

It's a surprise that the first recorded parade of St. Patrick's Day didn’t take place in Ireland. It happened in New York City when Irish soldiers serving in the Irish military matched through the city.

Currently, the parade is the world's largest procession, with more than 150,000 participants. Other places in the U.S. where the festival is recognized include Chicago, Boston, Savannah, and Philadelphia.

Russia

Since 1999, St. Patrick’s Day has been an annual festival in Moscow and other cities in Russia.

The official parade is held in military-style, collaborating with the Irish embassy and the Moscow government, while volunteers conduct the unofficial parade in carnival style.

In 2017, the Orthodox Church of Russia added St. Patrick’s feasts to its liturgical calendar, to be held on 30th March (O.S. 17th March).

Bosnia and Herzegovina

There’s a large Irish expatriate community in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2015, the community organized the Sarajevo Irish Festival to be celebrated for three days, including St. Patrick's Day.

They plan an annual parade and organize Irish folk musicians' concerts and Irish screen films during the festival. Numerous Irish filmmakers, theatre directors, and artists are hosted at the festival.

Scotland

The majority of the population in the Scottish town of Coatbridge are of Irish descent. St. Patrick's Day festival is marked by celebrations and parades around the city center.

Glasgow has a large Irish population, thanks to the Irish immigration of over 100,000 people in the 19th century. Consequently, many Irish interest groups hold annual celebrations for St. Patrick’s Day through parades and festivals.

Birmingham, UK

Birmingham is known for holding the largest Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Britain. The festival is characterized by a city center parade over a two-mile route through the city center.

Organizers label it the world's third-largest Saint Patrick's Day parade after Dublin and New York.