St. Patrick’s day is always celebrated on March 17th, because it’s believed that is the day on which Patrick died. St. Patrick’s day is celebrated in Ireland, in the U.S.A, in Canada, in Australia, in New Zealand, in the U.K. and in some places of Europe and Asia.
You can find St. Patrick’s Day festivities also in many parts of Italy, especially in the North.
Being a Christian festivity, St. Patrick’s day is a traditional day for spiritual renewal and to offer prayers for missionaries who are all around the world.
People celebrate with parades, wearing green clothes and drinking alcohols. From March 15th to 19th there are so many street performances, family carnivals, comedies, night shows, music and dances in the streets. Lots of Irish people wear a bunch of shamrock on their caps or green, white and orange clothes after the colors of their flag; girls traditionally dye their hair green; artists draw shamrock signs on people’s cheeks as a cultural symbol. People use to drink Irish alcoholic beverages, such as beer, whiskey, cider , coffee or cream.
During this period you can see some typical symbols like Leprechaun (an elf of Irish folklore usually believed to reveal the hiding place of treasure if caught), the Celtic cross (a mixture of Christian and Celtic cultures), the Irish harp and the shamrock ( official signs of Ireland), wearing green (fairies’ favorite color), the Blarney Stone (you have to kiss it upside down if you want to have luck) and the Shillelagh (a wooden stick).