2027 St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day on March 17 honors Ireland's patron saint, the fifth-century missionary credited with bringing Christianity to the island, and falls on the traditional date of his death. Irish immigrants turned it into a huge celebration in the United States: New York has staged a parade since 1762, making it one of the oldest in the country, and Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Savannah hold major parades of their own. People wear green and shamrocks, pubs serve Guinness and corned beef with cabbage, and Chicago dyes its river bright green on the Saturday of its parade. It is a public holiday in Ireland and Northern Ireland but a normal working day in the US, so most festivities fall on the evening and the closest weekend. Irish pubs fill early and city-centre hotels are busy, so reserve ahead. This countdown ticks to midnight Eastern Time in New York on March 17.