St. Patrick’s Day 2026: When & Why is it Celebrated?

St. Patrick’s Day, also referred to as the Feast of Saint Patrick or St. Patty’s Day, is an annual holiday observed on March 17th in celebration of the first patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick, the introduction of Christianity as well as the culture and heritage of the Irish. Generally, this is a traditional and religious holiday observed as an official Christian feast day in the Lutheran Church, Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Anglican Communion since the 17th century. Celebrants attend church services or mass and parades in honour of this holiday.

Who is Saint Patrick?

Much of the information on St. Patrick comes from a Declaration which was supposedly created by St. Patrick himself. St. Patrick is thought to have been born into a wealthy Roman British family during the fourth century. His grandfather was a priest and his father a deacon in the Christian church. Based on the Declaration, at 16 years old, St. Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland, where he became a slave as a shepherd for six years. In the process, he found God who told him to escape to the coast where he will find a ship which would take him home. Once St. Patrick got home, he became a priest.

Historically it is believed that Saint Patrick went back to Ireland to convert the Irish pagans to Christianity. The Declaration states that he spent numerous years preaching in the northern parts of Ireland, where he transformed thousands of pagans. His efforts in contradicting the druids, who were members of high-ranking professional classes such as religious leaders, legal authorities, medical professionals, etc., eventually turned into parables which claimed Saint Patrick drove ‘snakes’ out of Ireland. Historically, it is believed that St. Patrick passed away on March 17th and was buried. In the subsequent centuries, more parables and legends emerged about Patrick which earned him the title of Ireland’s foremost saint.

When is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated across the world?

This day’s celebrations involve Irish traditional music sessions, festivals, public parades, wearing of green attire or shamrocks, dances, gatherings and so much more. Participants of these events include marching bands, fire brigades, the military, charitable organizations, cultural organizations, fraternities, youth groups, voluntary associations, and so on.

In Ireland, the week of St. Patrick’s Day coincides with the “Irish language week”, during which the usage of the Irish language is common. Since 2010, a common tradition on St. Patrick’s Day includes lighting up famous landmarks in green as part of a Global Greening Initiative, also known as Going Green for St. Patrick’s Day. Christians go for church services, and the Lenten limitations of indulging in certain foods or beverages are stopped for the day. On this day, it is normal to dress up in green clothing, accessories, or shamrocks, a three-leaved plant, which was allegedly used by St. Patrick to describe the Holy Trinity to the Irish pagans. However, St. Patrick’s Day celebrations have received backlash chiefly because of its association with disorderly conduct, commercialization, and messiness, which has shifted the original purpose of the holiday. Additionally, there are claims that today’s celebrations of the holiday birth the demeaning stereotype of the Irish people, such as wearing the leprechaun outfits.

Ireland
In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Feast is a national holiday that has been celebrated since the 9th and 10th centuries. This day became a holy day of obligation following the influence from Luke Wadding, a Waterford born Franciscan scholar, to include it in the general liturgical calendar of the Catholic denomination in the 1600s. Since its establishment, this day is considered a feast day for the Church of Ireland, a branch of the Anglican Communion.

St. Patrick’s Day was officially declared a public holiday in 1903 following the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act of 1903. Traditionally, the church calendar avoids marking saints feast days during certain solemnities, such as the Holy Week of Easter, and hence will shift the date of the Saints’ feasts to a time outside this period. For instance, in 1940, St. Patrick’s Day coincided with Palm Sunday and was shifted to April 3rd, and in 2008 it was observed on March 15th instead of March 17th.

England
In England, this day is marked by the presentation of bowls of shamrock by the British Royals to members of the Irish Guards following the introduction of the tradition in 1901. The bowls of the shamrock are offered to the Irish Guards irrespective of where they are posted usually, by female royals. Male royals can also participate in the footsteps of King George VI in 1950.

In Great Britain, the Feast Day of St. Patrick is celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England while Birmingham holds the largest parade in commemoration of this day. In London, annual St. Patrick’s Day parades take place on the weekend of March 17th. In Liverpool and Manchester, this day is celebrated with cultural events, music, parades and a two-week long Irish festival in Manchester.

Russia
St. Patrick’s Day in Russia was initially observed in 1992 and since 1999, this day became an annual celebration in Moscow among other Russian towns. Official celebrations involve military-style parades organized jointly by the Irish embassy in Moscow and the Moscow government while unofficial parades are held by volunteers. The Feast of St. Patrick was included in the Russian Orthodox Church’s liturgical calendar in 2017.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
The capital city, Sarajevo, consists of a substantial Irish population which initiated the Sarajevo Irish Festival in 2015, celebrated for three days during the period of St. Patrick’s Day. This festival is celebrated with parades, concerts, film screenings, all of which are centered on the Irish culture and traditions.

Scotland
In Scotland, St. Patrick’s Day is observed in the town of Coatbridge, which is made up of the largest Irish population, and is celebrated with parades. In Glasgow, annual festivals and parades have been held since 2007.

Switzerland
In Switzerland, the official St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are observed on March 17th but it’s common to have small celebrations among Swiss students on the Eve of St. Patrick’s Day, the most popular one being Zurich’s Kreis 4.

Japan
This holiday has been celebrated across Japan since 1992.

Korea
Since 1976, St. Patrick’s Day has been observed in South Korea, particularly in the capital city Seoul, by the Irish Association of Korea.

Malaysia
In 1925, St. Patrick’s Day Society was established in Selangor and commemorate this day annually by organizing balls.

Canada
Montreal, Canada is famous for its annual longest-running largest St. Patrick’s Day parade because of the long-standing tradition of featuring a shamrock in the lower-right quadrant of the city’s flag since 1824. However, this holiday has been observed in Montreal since 1759 by Irish soldiers in the Montreal Garrison. In Saint John, New Brunswick, and Manitoba, three to seven days’ festivals take place in observation of St. Patrick’s Day, while in Toronto and Vancouver annual parades are observed.

Mexico
In Mexico, this holiday is observed in honour of the Saint Patrick’s Battalion.

United States
In the United States, although not a federal holiday, this day is observed across the country in celebration of Irish and Irish-American culture. Activities include religious observances, parades, and displays of the colour green.