Best St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world with parades, green beer and fireworks. Here are some of the biggest and best celebrations around the world, in alphabetical order:

Honolulu – From a parade through Waikiki to what Guinness calls “the single biggest St. Patrick’s Day party” at Murphy’s Bar and Grill, you’ll be among the last people on the planet celebrating St. Paddy’s (thanks to the International Date Line).

Las Vegas – Party with a living leprechaun at O’Sheas at the LINQ, transform into an honorary Irishman at a Las Vegas Strip pub or “find” your pot of gold in the casino. Or, venture off the beaten path and check out Shamrocks and Shots at Crazy Horse III strip club or the Leprechaun Smackdown midget wrestlers at Fremont Country Club.

London – For a weekend of Irish charm, head to Greenwich’s Borough Hall for the Irish food market. If a pint is what you’re after, try The Tiperrary, London’s oldest pub and the first to serve Guinness.

Los Angeles  – From the St. Patrick’s Day Festival at L.A. Live and the Hollywood St. Patrick’s Day Festival to the locally brewed and imported green beer at the Hollywood St. Patrick’s Day Block Party and Pub Crawl, this is one day you don’t need to be at the beach.

Miami  – The St. Patty’s party starts early with the Annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival on Saturday, March 14 at Fred B. Hartnett Park, and continues the next day at Fado Irish Pub’s epic “St. Patrice Day” celebration. On St. Patrick’s Day, check out John Martin’s or The Playwright Irish pubs.

New York City – The largest and oldest St. Patrick’s Day Parade features 200,000 marchers, including marching bands, cheered by some two million spectators.  NYC also is home to dozens of traditional Irish pubs, which do not serve green beer any day of the year.

Orlando – Start your day with a St. Patrick’s Day Irish breakfast feast of corned beef and potatoes at the Harp and Celt. Continue the merriment at the best Irish pubs in Orlando, including Pat O’Brien’s at CityWalk in Universal Orlando or Lucky Leprechaun Irish Pub.

Paris – The Sacre-Cœur Basilica turns green as a part of the “Global Greening”, when monuments from Nashville to Rome are swathed in green light. Irish pubs serve green Guinness beer and Jameson whiskey, and Disneyland Paris wraps up the night with green fireworks.

Sydney – From parties at Irish pubs like P.J. O’Brien’s, Durty Nelly’s Bar and Scuffy Murphy’s to the Sydney St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Family Day (the largest Irish event in the Southern Hemisphere), there’s tons of ways to shake your shamrock in Sydney. Even the iconic Opera House turns green.

Thanks to Aleza Freeman, editorial director of One Degree World – which describes itself as a “holistic hospitality company” – for helping put this list together for ecoXplorer.