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Published: January 12th 2012
Savannah Bagpipers in the parade
Savannah Irish Bagpipers in the St. Patricks Day Parade. One of hundreds of groups in the parade, the second longest in the country.St. Patrick's Day
When one thinks of Irish cities in the US, one tends to think of the big cities of the northeast: New York, Boston, Chicago.
In fact, the city with the highest percentage of Irish descendents is
Savannah.
Irish first arrived in large numbers in the 1830s to build the Central Georgia Railroad.
As one manager put it at the time, he preferred Irish to slaves because Irishmen had no value and could be worked to death with impunity.
Far more arrived after the
Great Potato Famine.
The quote above amply demonstrates how they were treated at the time.
They ultimately organized and took over the city government after Reconstruction.
Given the population,
St. Patrick’s Day is more than just an ethnic celebration here.
It takes over the city so completely that it is an unofficial holiday.
Local colleges close, downtown attractions are closed, and shops usually close as well (some, of course, prefer to deal with the crowds and rake in the cash).
Irishmen in general like to party, and Savannah residents really like to party, so combining the two produces something truly epic.
Bars on
Irish Dancers in the parade
Irish Dancers participating in the Savannah St. Patricks Day Parade this day usually offer the liquid lunch.
In Savannah, it’s the liquid breakfast and even the liquid wakeup call.
The bar and café in Forsyth Park, for instance, starts serving at 6 AM!
Savannah allows people to drink in public from plastic cups year round, but relatively few do.
On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone does this everywhere, to the point that NOT walking around with a beverage feels strange.
St. Patrick's Parade
The celebration has two distinct halves.
First comes the
parade.
Savannah has the second longest parade in the US, containing a wide variety of groups.
Some of them are the expected Irish organizations.
Some groups are not strictly Irish, such as high school marching bands and public safety officers.
The rest were stranger.
For example, there were a large number of sponsored floats, everything from Home Depot to Harley Davidson.
While they do pay for the parade, they also dilute its effect, an important consideration for a parade that is over three hours long.
The biggest cheers occurred for a platoon of Army Airborne troops from North Carolina, and a group
Kissing Woman on St. Patricks Day
Kissing a regular marcher is easy compared to something like this. of Confederate re-enactors (no matter how many years pass, this is still the Deep South).
I got to see multiple occasions of the parade’s most famous feature, the
Kissing Women.
Groups of women put on really red lipstick, run into the parade, and kiss participants on the cheeks.
The need for liquid courage beforehand is almost a given.
The most frequent targets were policemen, firemen, and servicemen.
Most accepted the kisses gladly, although the Marines refused to break their discipline for a second.
As the day wore on the targets became weird.
One woman kissed the mascot for a local college, and she wasn’t the first to do so!
River Street
After the parade is over, the second half of the day reaches full stride.
This half is the unofficial
after party which takes place on River Street by the waterfront and City Market.
Not coincidently, these are the areas with the highest concentration of bars.
There are stages set up where local bands play.
Most of them are cover bands of classic rock and country tunes, although some Irish acts (as in from
Savannah Riverfront on St. Patricks Day
The human circus that is River Street on St. Patricks Day in Savannah Ireland) also made an appearance.
As for beer, it’s served directly in the streets from portable trailers.
Some of the popular bars had long lines to get in.
I decided not to bother, since I could buy beer, people watch, and listen to music just as easily on the street.
Enjoying this part of the event requires careful self-management.
I drank a bit during the party, but spread it out well enough (and drank enough water) that I avoided both bad results during the event and a hangover afterward.
Of course, I had some
Guinness.
For food, I had two things that could only be from Savannah at this time of year,
green grits and green pralines.
The former is almost a necessity to properly do St. Patrick’s Day around here.
I also had green shortbread cookies and green ice cream.
The event gets extremely rowdy as the day wears on, so I left around the time the sun set.
The day then had a final act.
Finding traditional Irish music on St. Patrick’s Day is actually extremely difficult, as most people want and get an
Irish folk music
Traditional Irish music on St. Patrick's Day American style party with American music.
It is available if one knows
where to look.
I found it at the
Sentient Bean, a coffeehouse that specializes in roots music.
The band that night, the Dixie Jugs, played traditional Irish folk tunes, with some amazing dancing.
I loved it.
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