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Watch the Leprechaun in action!
One of the more prominent "floats" in the 2007 Chicago St. Patrick's Parade was this giant, inflatable leprechaun that literally stood out from the crowd. Always held on the Saturday before March 17, the official St. Patrick's Day, the Chicago parade actually fell on the 17th this year, greatly boosting the number of attendees, which numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
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By
Doug Elwell,
editor and publisher
was a beautiful day in downtown Chicago, and the pride of the Irish was on display. Hundreds of thousands of proud Irish men, women and children crammed the sidewalks across several blocks of Columbus Ave., south of Grant Park, to see Chicago's famous St. Patrick's Day Parade, one of the largest in the world. Marching bands, local radio stations, the Ancient Order of the Hibernians and numerous other Irish associations took their place in this low-key but enjoyable event. And yes, there was a giant, inflatable leprechaun.
A River of Green
The Chicago parade is normally held on the Saturday before March 17. This year March 17 fell on a Saturday, however, so the crowds were even larger than usual. The festivities officially started at 10:45 a.m., with the official
dyeing of the Chicago River to a "shining emerald green". This popular custom was started in 1962 by one Stephen M. Bailey, the business manager of the Chicago Journeyman Plumber's Local Union #110.
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A leprechaun dwarfs the Chicago skyline. Leprechauns, shamrocks, and high crosses dominated the parade, but there were no images or representations of St. Patrick. Though the parade is G-rated and family friendly, it is still becoming somewhat commercial.
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The story
is that Bailey got the idea from a plumber who used green dye to determine whether or not businesses along the river were illegally dumping waste by
pouring the dye into their pipes and seeing if the green dye appeared in the river.
Inspired, Bailey called the port director, Captain John Manley, to
see if the entire river could be dyed green. Manley and his deputy port director, Bill Barry both agreed it could be done, and an idea was born.
Bailey and Barry then met with the salesman who sold the dye, and found out that it was actually the same dye that was used by the military for sea rescue operations, so it would be ideal for their intended use. They started off with 100 pounds of the dye, but as that caused the river to change
color for an entire week, in 1963 they cut it down to 50 pounds, and the river stayed green for only three days. In 1964 they cut it down further to 25 pounds, and the river stayed green for only one day. Due to environmental concerns, in 1966 Bailey switched to a vegetable-based dye. Today the dyeing of the Chicago River is still sponsored by the Chicago Journeyman Plumber's Local Union #110, but is now handled by a man named Mike Butler, who sells
shirts
from his website,
www.greenchicagoriver.com
to help support the union's costs for purchase of the dye.
Getting There
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Much of the parade was made up of colorful cars and marching people with banners representing various Irish families, or "clans". This car sports images of leprechauns, pots of gold and Irish flags, and the occupants wear various shades of green. The child on the upper left is wearing an
aran sweater,
green beads, and a Dr. Suess-style party hat, while the child on the right is completely covered in green.
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I had intended to view and video the dyeing of the Chicago River, but I "accidentally" slept in and didn't get to leave the house until after 11 a.m.,
only an hour before the parade was due to start. On a busy traffic day it can take an hour and a half to get to downtown Chicago from Wheaton (a mid-sized city in the western suburbs that I have made my base of operations), so I was behind schedule and had to make time. Fortunately, traffic was relatively light, so I was able to get downtown a little after twelve noon.
The only remaining problem was parking, which can be expensive in Chicago, much more so recently. I would have taken the train, but the Saturday schedule didn't fit the parade schedule particularly well, and I had to get back by 3:30 in order to do a radio interview with
Arlene Bynon
on
Bynon's Toronto Weekend.
So, on top of it all, I was on a schedule.
After wasting 15 minutes driving around the north loop fruitlessly looking for an open parking space, I finally settled on a parking garage (with their confiscatory parking rates). For the first hour alone it was over $20, but I had no choice, so I took the bait. It was almost 12:30 and I had to catch at least part of the parade, so I hot-footed it to
Grant Park, on the far east side of
the Loop
between Columbus and Lake Shore Drive, in view of the lake.
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A classic example of one of the "family floats" that were created by various Irish families from Chicago's South Side. The revelers are wearing green beads, green and white Dr. Suess-style party hats, a green wig, green shoes, green sunglasses, and one is even smoking a green pipe, all watched over by a smiling leprechaun — dressed in green, of course.
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Finding the Parade
At first, despite the fact that I have been downtown on numerous occasions, I still had a bit of a time finding my bearings, as I have not spent much time east of State Street. So, I decided to just follow the green. Predictably, the closer I got to the parade, the higher the percentage of green apparel I saw. Green plastic bowlers, t-shirts and jackets, Mardi Gras-style green beads,
shamrock boppers
(popular party headgear that are basically two shamrocks on the ends of two springs), and even green and white Dr. Suess-style party hats. As one writer has pointed out, the St. Patrick's Day celebration is becoming more and more like an Irish version of Mardi Gras, except of course G-rated and family friendly.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the growing interest in St. Patrick's Day and its accompanying parades and festivals is the fact that it does not include much of the decadence and debauchery of similar festivals that surround some of the other major festivals around the world, Mardi Gras being perhaps the best example. What I was beginning to see in downtown Chicago, and apparently in many major countries of the West (and apparently even
Russia),
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Above: St. Patrick's Day revelers admiring the outer framework of the Pritzker Pavilion on their way to the parade.
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Below: "Cloud Gate" (locally known as "the bean") further impresses visitors. Both structures are in the new
Millennium Park,
in
Grant Park,
several blocks north of the parade route, which stopped at Monroe Ave.
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was the general adoption of a saint's day "for the rest of us", who don't want to see transgendered dancers dressed in nothing but feathers and gold
paint prancing down our city streets. This day remains a day of family, morality and traditions, where normal people could still have a good time. And even though I am only marginally Irish in ancestry, I felt like I fit right in.
Finally, after a brisk, 15-minute walk all the way from Wells Street, the cityscape gave way to the low, green hill that is the basis of
Grant Park.
Crossing over Michigan Avenue, I saw for the first time the new
Millennium Park,
dominated by the new outdoor theater, the
Pritzker Pavilion.
This expansive, impressive structure really gave Grant Park an avant-garde edge that I had not felt on previous visits. Turning the corner, I was startled by a pristine, elegently simple yet beautiful structure whose gracious curves were reminiscent of liquid mercury. It was
Cloud Gate,
an artistic masterpiece put together by the renowned sculptor
Anish Kapoor,
who did indeed intend to make the bean-shaped sculpture (known locally as "the bean") evoke that very impression. This 33 feet high, 66 feet long,
110-ton sculpture is completely covered by stainless steel, and beautifully mirrored the clouds, the skyline, and the people who flocked around it.
The 2007 Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade
After a brief stop to admire this beautiful structure, I continued on my quest to find a good spot from which to take pictures of the parade. After wasting another 15 minutes waiting with hundreds of others on the Randolph Street bridge for the parade to pass under, I realized that the parade actually only went as far north as Monroe Avenue, three blocks south of where I was. Maneuvering my way through the crowd of people until I finally reached Monroe Street, I found a good vantage point on the northeast corner of Columbus and Monroe, just in time to see most of the parade, which had by then had been going for nearly an hour.
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A traditional Scots-Irish band playing bagpipes
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A brass marching band, only marching, no music
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A brass band playing "The Orange and the Green"
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Fortunately, there was still plenty to see. Numerous floats, colorful cars, Irish dancers, marching bands both traditional and modern, inflated balloon characters, giant leprechauns and even mounted Irish knights made the parade a fairly sedate but visually interesting spectacle. I had arrived just in time to see most of the most visually interesting parts of the parade, but it was clear that most of the action had occurred an hour earlier, several blocks south, where the most light and energy was on display. That said, I was still glad I came, as I really enjoyed seeing a bit of (Irish) Americana that was for the most part still unsullied, a part of American culture yet unspoiled by being mixed in to the politically correct, golden cup "melting pot" that passes for culture in 21st century America.
Directions
The Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade is held the Saturday before (or on) March 17th every year. The parade
(map)
marches north on Columbus Drive through Grant Park, starting at Balbo and ending at Monroe, about three blocks south of Millennium Park. The parade starts at noon and lasts around 2 hours. The dyeing of the Chicago River starts before the parade around 10:45, and can be best seen from the upper bridges near Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive, a few blocks north of Millennium Park
(map).
Note that this parade is not to be confused by the
South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade,
held in the far southwest side of Chicago, which we will cover in the Spring, 2008 edition of the Mysterious World Ireland Newsletter.
Chicago St. Patrick's Day: Parade Map
Citysearch: Chicago: Grant Park
Citysearch: Chicago: Grant Park: Map
Links
Official Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade website
GreenChicagoRiver.com
SaintPatricksDayParade.com
South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade - official website
Official Dublin, Ireland St. Patrick's Day website
Chicago Park District website
A View on Cities: Grant Park
Millennium Park: official website
Wikipedia: Chicago Loop
Chicago Traveler
Wiki Travel: Chicago
World 66: Chicago
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