March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, a day of national celebration for the missionary who is credited with carrying Christianity to Ireland. It’s also the one day of the year when everything goes green, including clothing, beverages, food, and even the rivers in certain American cities.
In case you might be wondering how an Irish celebration made its way to America in the first place, the answer is simple: Immigrants from the Emerald Isle brought their reverence for St. Patrick with them to their new home.
Boston, Massachusetts, claims the first official observance of St. Paddy’s Day on March 17, 1737, while New York City had the largest and longest parade back in 1762. However, historians say that St. Augustine, Florida, held the nation’s first observance of Ireland’s patron saint way back in 1600.
Whatever the case, Mississippi puts her own spin on the “wearin’ of the green” with parades, festivals, and celebrations throughout the state. The fun begins this weekend in Biloxi, and festivities continue throughout the following week in various towns across Mississippi.
Sponsored by the Hibernia Irish Society (hiberniamarchingsociety.com), Biloxi’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade begins at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Everyone is invited to attend. Simply wear something green and head to Downtown Biloxi to hear the bagpipes and enjoy the floats and bands as they wind their way throughout the city. The event also includes a family-friendly festival held near City Hall, as well as the annual Irish 5K run and 1K Walk which begins at 9 a.m. the morning of the parade.
But Biloxi just gets things started in the Magnolia State. Make sure to check out the St. Patrick’s Day festivities taking place in our state capitol the following Saturday, March 22, 2025, during the annual Hal’s St. Paddy’s Parade & Festival (halsstpaddysparade.com). This year’s theme is “Hey, Hey, The Blues Is All Green!” And the slate of events for the day begins at 9 a.m. with a children’s festival, followed by a pet parade at 10 and a children’s parade at 11. But the main parade starts at 1 p.m., with the Hal’s St. Paddy’s afterparty to follow.
If you can’t make it to Biloxi or Jackson, have no fear. From Olive Branch to Bay St. Louis, St Patrick’s Day celebrations will take place all over Mississippi. Go to visitmississippi.org to view information on several of those events.
Make plans now to celebrate St. Patrick and Mississippi’s Irish heritage during the next two weekends. And don’t forget the “wearin’ of the green” on Monday, March 17, 2025, because traditions say that wearing green clothing makes you invisible to any pesky “leprechauns” around you. But most assuredly, wearing green ensures that you do not get pinched a zillion times throughout the day.
