On Sunday, 17 March, St Patrick’s Day returns in all of its green glory. While a traditionally Irish holiday, the festivities have long been held across the United Kingdom, in North America, South Africa, parts of South America, Oceania, and little pockets of Europe where Irish bars are prevalent. In 2024, Liverpool looks to be going big for St Patrick’s Day, so here’s what you need to know about the festivities coming to the city.
Getting in the St Patrick’s Day spirit!
Before you start celebrating with a big green top hat on, it’s wise to understand the purpose of the revelries. As you will have guessed, the day is to celebrate the primary patron saint of Ireland primarily by feasting. The Feast of Saint Patrick, as it’s also known, celebrates the day that the saint came to Ireland.
So, people well and truly indulge when observing St Patrick’s Day the historical way. Another key element, due to it celebrating an arrival in Ireland, is the embrace of Irish iconography. Parades are common, the colour green gets draped across everything, Irish musicians play live, shamrocks pop up all over the place, you’ll be offered the traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage, and you’ll likely spot a Leprechaun or two.
The greenery, lucky symbols, rainbows, and Leprechauns are the most well-known symbols and features of Irish folklore and Ireland as a whole. You’ll see these all over the place on St Patrick’s Day and any product, particularly in iGaming circles, looking to emulate Ireland’s inherent feel-good atmosphere and good luck symbology.
The prime examples of this come in the form of the Rainbow Riches slots that feature the rolling green fields, leprechauns, plenty of good luck symbols, and, of course, a cheeky little Leprechaun that leads to the features. You click on Rainbow Riches because of those clear links to Irish themes, and stay for the famed features. On St Patrick’s Day, you’ll see all of the elements of Rainbow Riches popping up in Liverpool.
Where to jump into the festivities in Liverpool
Liverpool will be playing host to two St Patrick’s Day parades in 2024! First, there’ll be a pre-parade on 9 March – the Saturday before the big day – and then another on 17 March. That Sunday parade on the day of will begin at the Old Irish Centre at 12:30pm. The pre-parade runs from St Patrick’s RC Church Toxteth all of the way to Slater Street. Both will feature multiple bands playing while the parades snake their way through the city.
Of course, venues around Liverpool will be putting up the green and gold decorations and be playing plenty of Irish folk music. To experience the day a little differently, you could turn to the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Hope Street. Here, you can get set for the night of celebration with a performance from McGoldrick, McCusker, and Doyle in the Music Room.
Once again, St Patrick’s Day will create a superbly festive and welcoming atmosphere for all to enjoy across Liverpool; all that you need to do is decide where you’ll be enjoying it in your big green top hat!