Gallery
Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
The South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade was reborn on a very small scale in 1979. Two friends, George Hendry and Pat Coakley, recalled the Southtown Parades of their youths and decided to recreate it in Morgan Park. The initial parade featured only 17 marchers, all neighborhood children, but the idea quickly caught fire. Outside a brief The Irish population was growing steadily in Chicago by the mid-1800s, but it wasn't until the next century that St. Patrick's Day took hold of the city every March. The city's first parade was St. Patrick's Day is always a fun holiday, whether you're Irish or not. With its signature green hue, the holiday has even taken to the waters of several rivers across the United States as a sign The first St Patrick's Day parade took place in Chicago all the way back in 1843. Taking place on March 17 to mark the Irish holiday for the patron saint of the country, the first St Patrick's Day parade in The Windy City was a small affair. Read more: Chicago St Patrick's Day Parade 2023: Start time, routes and important info The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Chicago 2025 always takes place the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day. The parade will begin this year on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at noon. Like previous years, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade will move along Columbus Drive from Balbo to Monroe Street. St. Patrick's Day celebrations are taking place this weekend in Chicago. Watch ABC7's full presentation of the 2025 Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade here. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Chicago was held on March 17, 1843. It was a modest affair, representing the Irish of Chicago, who then numbered about 775. The marchers trooped down Clark Street with “Smiling John” Davlin as grand marshal and Capt. Patrick Kelly leading an Irish military unit known as the Montgomery Guards. The history of St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago goes back more than 175 years. Now a longstanding tradition, Chicago’s Irish parade was first held in 1843. The dyeing of the Chicago River was added in 1962, quickly becoming one of Chicago’s most famous events. The first Irish parade in Chicago was organized in 1843 by victims of British discrimination, and the St. Patrick’s Day parade became a talisman against an outbreak of a similar prejudice in Kate Liebelt of Chicago poses for a portrait before getting on a boat cruise with Freedom Boat Club of Chicago for the 2025 Chicago River dyeing for St. Patrick's Day in Chicago on March 15, 2025 Two more parades were held Sunday in Chicago in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. The South Side Irish Parade and the Northwest Side Irish parade continued the massive celebrations across the city The WTTW original documentary reveals how the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local 130, UA, became involved in organizing the city’s downtown St. Patrick’s Day parade, how the dyeing of the Chicago River became a global event, the process behind the crowning of the queen and the selection of the grand marshal, and what it means to be Irish. RELATED | Chicago St. Patrick's Day 2025: River dyeing, parades to take place this weekend | What to know In Elmhurst, they had their giant St. Patrick's parade last weekend, and with the actual Today marks the 63rd anniversary of Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day tradition of transforming the Chicago River green. Crowds gather along the riverbanks to watch the magic happen — a ritual of history and celebration. Plumbers have dyed the Chicago River green since 1962, though the tradition was Northwest Side St. Patrick's Day Parade, South Side Irish Parade, Aurora parade all stepped off Sunday By ABC7 Chicago Digital Team and Karen Jordan Sunday, March 16, 2025 10:45PM The very next year, the city’s newspapers announced he was planning “a parade” for March 17—St. Patrick’s Day. Other American cities had a history of grand St. Patrick’s Day parades. Chicago’s Irish had staged a few parades on-and-off since the 1840s, and there was a long-running event on 79th Street. When does the downtown St. Patrick’s Day Parade take place? Bagpipers play during the Downtown St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 11, 2023 in Chicago. (Shanna Madison/Chicago Tribune) Every year, the river is dyed a few hours before the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which will take place on Saturday, March 15 this year, just two days before the St. Patrick’s Day holiday According to a well-researched 2024 Block Club Chicago feature by Linze Rice, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade in Chicago was held in 1843 and included citizens, a band and a military group of Chicago Actually Has 3 St. Patrick’s Day Parades. In addition to the Downtown parade, Chicago also hosts the South Side Irish Parade and the Northwest Side Irish Parade. The South Side Irish Parade runs down Western Avenue between 103rd and 115th Streets and is supposed to have begun when two neighbors decided that their children needed
Articles and news, personal stories, interviews with experts.
Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |