It's a tradition that I've never fully understood but it's great to see that a tradition that's important to people across the country, around the world and of course in Chicago is back.
In 2021 the Mayor Of Chicago cancelled the St. Patrick's Day Parade for the second year in a row at the last minute and used that time to dye the Chicago River. I guess the idea was that there wouldn't be huge crowds flocking to see this annual tradition. You can see crowds lined up around Downtown Chicago in these aerial shots.
Here are some interesting facts about St. Patrick's Day in Chicago:
The first St. Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago was in 1843.
The first time the Chicago River was dyed green was in 1962.
The color the river turns is Kelly Green BUT the color of the dye is actually orange. It's comprised of vegetables that combine with the river color to make it green. But it's the magic of leprechauns that does the real work!
There are actually 3 St. Patrick's Day parades in Chicago and the South Side Parade is the largest neighborhood parade outside Dublin, Ireland.
According to DNA Info, approximately 7.5% of Chicago's population identifies as Irish. That seems low to me but it's possible that people don't know their ancestry.
The US Census Bureau says that in 2019 approximately 32 million Americans identify as Irish or approximately 9.7% of the population.
Ireland's population is approximately 6.9 million people. But somewhere between 50 and 80 million people worldwide claim Irish ancestry, according to Wikipedia.
Boston is the city with the highest concentration of people with Irish ancestry at 20.4%.
Photo credit: stevegeer iStock