This Georgia City Is Home to One of the Oldest St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S.

• Savannah, Georgia, is residence to the second-largest St. Patrick’s Day parade within the U.S.
• Based in 1824, the occasion is now 201 years outdated.
• In the course of the parade, you’ll be able to count on emerald-colored beer, marching bands, and fountains flowing with inexperienced water.

When folks consider St. Patrick’s Day parades in the USA, locations like New York Metropolis, Boston, or Chicago normally come to thoughts. And whereas New York Metropolis has the most important and oldest St. Patrick’s Day parade within the nation (established in 1762), the second largest belongs to a metropolis a lot smaller in measurement: Savannah.

The Hostess Metropolis of the South celebrated its first St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1824 and has continued to take action each March 17 for the previous 201 years. Not solely is the parade one of many oldest and largest within the nation, but it surely’s additionally the largest celebration of its sort within the U.S. South and a supply of native delight.

The historical past of St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Savannah predates Georgia itself. Irish folks first started arriving within the Savannah space through the early 18th century, quickly changing into a hub of Irish immigration. Within the early 1800s, rich Irish residents shaped the Hibernian Society of Savannah to assist newly arrived Irish immigrants get their toes on the bottom of their new nation. The story goes that on March 17, 1824, the then-president of the Hibernian Society inspired Savannah residents to affix him on a stroll to listen to a speech by a visiting bishop. That stroll was a parade, and thus, the very first Savannah St. Patrick’s Day parade was born.

Though the modern-day parade is a secular affair, there’s all the time a preparade Mass on the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, the place pews are crammed with parishioners wearing inexperienced. The parade begins on the Basilica, runs via Savannah’s historic district, and ends close to Forsyth Park.

Guests can count on marching bands, horses, and floats sponsored by native Irish teams and households through the occasion. The town’s well-known fountains will circulate inexperienced, and loads of emerald-colored beer will probably be accessible all through town. For these touring to Savannah particularly for the event, the year-old Hotel Bardo is as near the parade as you may get. Alternatively, the Perry Lane Hotel and the brand-new, Ann Savannah will put you within the coronary heart of the merrymaking.