by Jonny Velasquez
St. Patrick’s Day is not a nationally recognized holiday. Few towns celebrate it with parades and festivals. Irish people recognize their heritage wearing green clothing and kilts. But why is the foreign holiday so popular amongst Americans? St. Patrick’s Day commemorates St. Patrick – the most popular of the patron saints of Ireland. The holiday also celebrates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.
When asked what is the significance of St. Patrick’s Day, Jeffrey Reichel, second-year advertising major from SCAD Savannah answered, “Woah! It’s about getting naked!”
March 17, 2012 – over 1 million people congregated to the streets of Savannah, Georgia for bibulous festivities.
On that Saturday morning, I awoke to obnoxious screaming, “Woah! Woah! Yeah baby!” I opened my eyes and found a PBR placed next to me.
I stood up in a razed living room. Beer cans were thrown everywhere. People were hanging off couches and sleeping on top of tables. Jeffrey pranced around wearing a Viking helmet. He was ten beers deep, and it was 10 a.m.
We sat in lawn chairs on the second story balcony of the house and watched the parade. Most of the floats advertised unknown businesses. The gathered crowd went bonkers when the troops passed. Guys saluted and cheered. Some of the girls kissed the troops. Others flashed their breasts.
After the parade, we stuffed our backpacks with beer and whiskey. We put drinks in red cups or koozies and ventured from Henry Street towards River Street – a twenty-minute walk.
As we neared River Street, people wearing green covered all visibility. The frats gathered in the park squares – especially Chippawa Square. The guys played corn-hole and talked SEC football while the girls gossiped. I spent some time drinking and talking football with a frat out of College of Charleston. They were good people. I did my first Fireball with them – a cinnamon whiskey shot. Those crazy bastards can drink.
We were peckish at noon and stopped at Five Guy’s Burgers. The prices were jacked up – $7.99 for a double cheeseburger and $2.59 for a medium coke.
We ate in the streets and listened to a cover band. We opened one of the backpacks and poured whiskey into our fountain drinks – the college way.
We bar hopped until 4 p.m. Soon we found ourselves dodging the infestation of people in green, so we returned to the house to rejuvenate.
When the sun went down, we ventured back to River Street for the madness. Lines to get into bars and clubs wrapped around every corner. A mini amusement park was set up near the river. In the streets, DJs blasted music while people socialized and danced with plastic cups in hand.
It was beautiful to see people of all ethnicities, social classes and political differences party until the sun came up. Even the “psychonauts” were out. Two guys and a girl tripped hard on acid. At one point, they were crawling on the ground and screaming about being trapped inside Tron.
We had one encounter with the police. We marked our territory in a dark alley, and three cops hurried to the scene.
“What are you boys doing!” one cop demanded.
Big Dave pointed, “People are fucking back there. You need to do something about it. Kids could see.”
“Oh no, not again,” another cop responded. They reached for their flashlights and darted down the alley.
“Run!” Big Dave yelled when they passed. We zipped our zippers and fled having a laugh.
So why did 1 million people congregate in Savannah for St. Patrick’s Day?
“It’s legal to drink in the streets,” Jeffrey Reichel answered.
Nico Sotomayor, second year graphic design major from SCAD Savannah answered, “Duh Gringo, people just want to party and have a good time.”
People want to be around other people. It’s a lonely life to venture through alone. So what if Americans party in the name of a foreign holiday? We’ll use any excuse to drink. If we can forget life’s worries for one day, so be it.
Until Cinco de Mayo…