Here in Columbia we are very proud of our St Paddy celebration. (Get tickets here) 40,000 people cheering on 20 bands on 5 stages! Plus 3 food courts, and a food truck rodeo. WCOS this year will be presenting Rodney Atkins, Canaan Smith Band of Horses, and Shaed on our stage.
WalletHub has just come out with their list of the Best Cities for St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations. They judged 200 of the largest U.S. cities across 17 factors, including Irish pubs and restaurants per capita, weather forecasts, parades and parties, average price of a beer and more. So how did we do? Chicago, which actually dyes their river green for the holiday, tops the list again this year, scoring a 74.34 out of 100.
Top Ten Cities For St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations
- Chicago, IL
- Boston, MA
- Philadelphia, PA
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Tampa, FL
- Naperville, IL
- New York, NY
- Buffalo, NY
- Cleveland, OH
- Cedar Rapids, IA
So we didn't make the top 10? No. We didn't even make the top 100 according to WalletHub. They rank us #113 in the nation. I'm absolutely befuddled by their ranking as they really penalized for our weather. Our weather around mid March is usually awesome! We typically only have 8 days of rain in March and an average high of 71. So sunny and 70 sucks. We were ranked 194 out of 200 cities for weather. Number 1? Colorado Springs with 6 days of rain but avg hi 53 in March. #2 is Rockford with 7 days of rain hi 46.
Our tradition came in at 54th. We've been doing this 38 years, but the northeast cities like Boston who started celebrating St Paddy's in 1737 and NYC who had their first St Patrick's Parade in 1762 it's hard to compete with on tradition. Fun fact: The first U.S. city to celebrate St Patrick's Day was St Augustine FL in 1600!