The best cities in the US to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, ranked
- St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner — March 17.
- To get you in the holiday spirit, WalletHub ranked the top 20 cities to celebrate the Irish day based on traditions, weather, cost, safety, and other metrics.
- Chicago earned the top spot for its plethora of traditions, including dying the Chicago River green.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Can you hear the bagpipes in the distance? It can only mean one thing — St. Paddy's Day is quickly approaching. This ode to the Emerald Isle is on March 17, a Tuesday this year, and is celebrated around the world.
In the US, Americans mainly celebrate with green beer, parades, and Irish dancing. To help you start organizing your big holiday plans, WalletHub has ranked the best places in the US to get your jig on.
Keep scrolling to see what the top spots are.
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20. Henderson, Nevada, is cheap and will have great weather for St. Patrick's Day.
According to WalletHub, It earned the sixth spot for cost, and third spot for weather.
19. Fort Collins, Colorado, has the Oak Street Shamrock Festival.
Fort Collins earned the third spot on the safety and accessibility ranking, WalletHub reported.
The city's two biggest events are the Oak Street Shamrock Festival and the Old Town Irish Party.
18. Kansas City, Missouri, has no shortage of events.
Kansas City ranked 16th for St. Patrick's Day traditions. According to Eventbrite, there are plenty of events scheduled in and around Kansas City, including a scavenger crawl, concerts, and a parade.
17. Lincoln, Nebraska, is a safe place to celebrate.
Lincoln ranked second overall in the safety and accessibility rankings, according to WalletHub.
16. Madison, Wisconsin, will be raising money for the Boys & Girls Club.
Madison's Shamrock Shuffle race has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County.
15. Boise, Idaho, is holding a bar crawl on Friday the 13th to celebrate.
There are plenty of events in Boise to choose from, like the bar crawl on the 13th, a 3-mile St. Paddy's Day run, bagpipers, and more.
14. Syracuse, New York, is celebrating its 38th annual parade on March 14.
Syracuse's parade this year has the theme "20/20: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words." The city even has a gala to honor the grand marshals of the parade.
13. Omaha, Nebraska, has a St. Paddy's Day race, called the Leprechaun Chase.
For those active Irishmen and women, Omaha offers the Leprechaun Chase 10K. Though the race is already sold out, you can still hit up the after party.
12. Denver's parade is one of the oldest traditions in Colorado.
Denver's parade is held in LoDo, a hip neighborhood in Denver.
11. Las Vegas, Nevada, has plenty of places to celebrate.
Las Vegas is tied for first with Pittsburgh for access to bars — a big category for St. Patrick's Day.
10. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has a colorful parade.
The Cedar Rapids St. Patrick's Day parade is held by the SaPaDaPaSo — the St. Patrick's Day Parade Society.
9. Cleveland, Ohio, offers a St. Patrick's Day parade that's the oldest in the state.
The Cleveland St. Patrick's Day parade is the oldest in the state of Ohio.
8. Buffalo, New York, has a "great family friendly" parade.
The mission of Buffalo's parade is to "conduct a great family friendly, religious, patriotic, and civic event in Buffalo that honors Saint Patrick and displays the Irish contributions to our community and country."
7. New York, New York, has a St. Patrick's Cathedral of its own.
One of New York City's most famous buildings is the St. Patrick's Cathedral, which offers public tours every Monday. There's also plenty of Irish history to take in in the city, from visiting the Lower East Side Tenement Museum to visiting the Irish Hunger Memorial.
6. Naperville, Illinois, is the most Irish-American city in the country.
Naperville is a heavily Irish city — WalletHub has it at No. 1 for largest Irish population. This year's parade will be held on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. It normally attracts 15,000 spectators.
5. Tampa, Florida, has many an Irish pub to choose from.
Surprisingly, Tampa has the highest number of Irish bars per capita, tied with New York City, Chicago, and Seattle.
4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has a sizable Irish community looking forward to its parade and family activities.
As much as 14% of Pittsburgh's population is Irish, so it's a great place to celebrate. It'll have a parade followed by family-friendly activities and even some giveaways.
3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, starts celebrating a few days early.
The Philadelphia parade will be held on March 15 this year, and it's the parade's 250th anniversary. The theme is "250 Years of Faith, Family, Friendship and Heritage."
2. Boston, Massachusetts, will feature a performance by famed band the Dropkick Murphys.
Successful Celtic punk band the Dropkick Murphys return to Boston every year for a run of hometown shows at the House of Blues.
1. Chicago, Illinois, will feature its annual green river.
Most famously, the city of Chicago dyes its river a lovely shade of leprechaun green for the big day, making for a festive photo op.
- Read more:
- 15 facts about St. Patrick's Day celebrations, from how much Americans will spend to how many pints of Guinness will be consumed
- How Google's St. Patrick's Day doodles have changed over the last 18 years
- 9 holidays around the world with surprisingly dark origins
- 13 celebrities you didn't know were Irish