Charleston Fountain on St. Patrick's Day

Seeing billboards and ads this week promoting St. Patrick’s Day festivals has reminded me that yet another holiday is upon us. Although St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday, what makes it such a popular celebration in many U.S. cities? Is it the Irish influence in America? Maybe a historic fascination with what the holiday represents? Or possibly the celebration of the end of winter and the beginning of spring? And perhaps, for many, just another reason to party and drink beer?

Whatever your reasons for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, we can all agree that this is a fun holiday that we can all get excited about. What other holiday gives you permission to not only drink beer, but to also bring pain upon those who are so reluctant (or forget) to show their St. Patrick’s Day pride by wearing green? Well I have another reason for you to get excited about the Irish holiday: the Charleston Festival of Ballycahill. With a strong Irish influence, Charleston is one of the best southern cities to celebrate St. Pat’s.

The week-long St. Patrick’s Day Festival in Charleston is more than just drinking green beer. The event highlights the culture and history of Ireland with artists, musicians and others who are actually from Ireland and are proud to celebrate their heritage. Some of the most popular events during the Charleston festival include the big St. Patrick’s Day Parade through downtown Charleston, the raising of the Irish flag at city hall, arts and crafts workshops, Irish tours of Charleston, Irish film presentations and many food and music offerings, including a concert by Irish musician Mick Moloney. The Charleston festival represents both the history and culture of Ireland, while also celebrating its influence in Charleston. For a complete listing of events, I suggest browsing through Charleston’s Festival of Ballycahill website. Oh, and did I mention that all most all the events at the Charleston festival are free?

Photo from gregor_bug on Flickr.