Green energy: St. Patrick's Day brings exuberant parades and celebrations in New York and other cities | News, sports, jobs

Parade Grand Marshalls posing for a photo before the 264th New York Saint Patrick's Day Parade, Monday, March 17, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

New York (AP) – St. Patrick's Day, the annual celebration of all things Irish, was shaped by parades in the USA on Monday, from a procession to Manhattan to a rolling spectacle through Savannah's historic roads.

School marching bands and traditional Irish pipe and drum ensembles have reduced the Fifth Avenue of Manhattan with uniformed police and the fire brigade in New York City, in which one of the largest and oldest parades in the country take place.

The celebration made itself north on designer shops and St. Patrick's Cathedral, a breathtaking neo-Gothic landmark, which is the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

Mayor Eric Adams attracted a green hat and a scarf and waved an Irish flag, while the Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan welcomed the marchers with a green, white and orange sash – the national colors of the Emerald Isle.

“It's fantastic to be here” Ryan Hanlon, deputy chairman of the parade board of directors, said as a slight morning rain. “We are getting a little rain at the moment, but as we call it it is just liquid sunshine.”

Ashley Pincheon cheers during St. Patrick's Day Parade, Monday, March 17, 2025, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

The New York celebration dates from the 264th year to 1762 – 14 years before the United States' declaration of independence. The parade on Monday took the afternoon and ended on the east side of Central Park, about 35 blocks from the location.

This is much, much, much longer than the 98-foot route in the holiday city of Hot Springs, Arkansas, in which it is claimed that it houses the shortest parade to St. Patrick's Day in the world.

And in Savannah, thousands of night owls in bright green costumes overcrowded the sidewalks and the oak shadow squares as the largest parade of the St. Patrick's Day parade in the south through the historical city of Georgia. The parade was its 200th anniversary a year ago and followed its origin on the day when Irish immigrants marched into the church in March 1824.

Lindsey Dodd, who has been coming to Savannah's parade for about 15 years, wore green hair, green lipstick and shamrock decorated socks when her group set up chairs in a first-class place for parade watching. Children to plastic horns and adult UPS raised their beers, as the whistle and drum straps marched and pickup trucks dragged with Shamrock-decorated swimmers.

“I just enjoy the celebrations, the people who watch, the chaos”, “ Said Dodd. “Savannah only has something special.”

A wolf dog from the 69th infantry regiment looks before the 264th New York Saint Patrick's Day Parade, Monday, March 17, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Some other American cities that were changed by the Irish immigration organized festivals at the weekend. Chicago, who turned his name keys River Hellgrün with dye, celebrated on Saturday. Boston and Philadelphia organized their parades on Sunday. And the water in the fountain of the White House was colored green, a tradition of President Barack Obama.

On the other side of the pond, the Irish capital Dublin culminated her three -day festival with a parade, and cities like Liverpool, an English city that was also changed by the Irish immigration, organized her own celebrations on St. Patrick's festive day.

The parades are supposed to commemorate the protection of Ireland, but have become a celebration of the Irish heritage worldwide

The New York governor Kathy Hochul reflected on her Irish ancestors, of which she said that she had to deal with potato farmers and fishermen from the county of Kerry.

“I live the American dream because my Irish grandparents came to this country as a teenager.” Said the democrat when she went on the route of Manhattan Parade. “I am humble from this story.

People wave flags during the 264th New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade on Monday, March 17, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A child marches on Monday, March 17, 2025 in New York on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Bella Brykailo, left, and her girlfriend Leighton Smith on Monday, March 17, 2025, in Savannah, GA, on Monday, March 17, 2025, in Savannah, GA, an alcohol -free drink (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton).

NYPD officers welcome when they march in New York on Monday, March 17, 2025 on Monday, March 17th, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

The 3 -year -old Cameron Brown hurt Irish flags when he sits on the shoulders of his mother Amanda Brown on Monday, March 17, 2025 on Monday, March 17, 2025 on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

The 77 -year -old Nora Devaney from the Donegal Association of New York, who marched for her 61st year in a row, looks in New York in New York on Monday, March 17th, 2025 in New York Saint Patrick's Day Parade. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Savannah College for Art and Design Student Abby Cooper celebrates with her friends during St. Patrick's Day Parade, Monday, March 17, 2025, in Savannah, GA. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

The Chicago River is colored green on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)