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Health & Fitness

My First Saint Patrick's Day Celebration

As an exchange student, I had my first chance to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day . I went to the parade in downtown Milwaukee and saw the bag pipe performance.

Saint Patrick’s Day, or Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on March 17 of every year; it is also the public holiday in Ireland. This holiday represents the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Saint Patrick’s Day was made an official feast day in the early seventeenth century. This day is generally characterised by the attendance of church service, wearing of green attire, public parades and processions, Irish dance performing and celebrating by eating and drinking alcohol.

Originally the color which was associated with this holiday was blue, but during the nineteenth century, the Irish people believed that green color was worn by fairies and immortals. Also, wearing green is the way to encourage their crops to grow well. Saint Patrick is said to use the shamrocks as the symbols of the Holy-Trinity to the pagan Irish.

In the olden days in Ireland, the shamrock was seen as sacred because the color is green and its overall shape. Many Irish people believe that the shamrocks represent the rebirth and life. The four leaves of the clover represent faith, love, hope, and luck.

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Although Saint Patrick’s Day is not a legal holiday in United States, many people still celebrate because it is primarily observed as American-Irish culture. There are always big parades and celebrations happening in cities with large populations of Irish people such as New York, New Orleans and Seattle.

As an exchange student this year, I had my first chance to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with my family and saw an Irish dance group which was very cool and interesting. I also went to the parade in downtown Milwaukee and saw the bag pipe performance. It was another way to experience the real American-Irish culture.

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