St. Patrick's Day Events in Chicago!

If you are looking for a fun weekend trip and a great way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, try visiting Chicago, Illinois.

Chicago will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day in a variety of ways this year.

The 2007 annual Chicago Saint Patrick's Day Parade will be held on Saturday March 17^th at noon starting on Columbus Drive.

The parade is typically held the day before the actual holiday in order to give families a chance to participate in the fun without having to pull the kids out of school. This year, however, the 17^th falls on a Saturday.

The parade will be starting at Balbo and Columbus and will proceed north on Columbus drive. The viewing stand will be located in front of Buckingham Fountain.

The annual tradition of dyeing the Chicago River will also take place on Saturday the 17^th. The river is scheduled to be dyed at 10:45am and will be best viewed at the bridges at Michigan Ave or Columbus Drive.

Public Transportation is highly recommended to best celebrate the festivities due to parking. Heightened security is set to be implemented this year on parts of Lake Shore Drive, Columbus Drive and Michigan Ave. Due to the added security, these roads will be slow and difficult to travel on. Patrons are encouraged to use the blue or red line trains and exit at any of the loop stops. For travelers on the brown, green or orange line trains they should exit at any of the stops along Wabash or walk east to Columbus Drive.

Prior to the St. Patrick Day parade there will be a Parade Queen Contest on February 18^th. The contest will include a city wide search for "Chicago's Fairest Colleen" to be queen. One lady and four additional princesses will be selected as Chicago's St. Patrick's Day Parade royalty.

In order to be eligible for queen, any Irish girl who has not been married and is between the ages of 17-28 may apply. The contest will be held at 1pm on Sunday February 18, in Stephen Bailey Auditorium on Washington Blvd in Chicago.

There was also a corned beef and cabbage dinner held on January 26^th at Plumbers Hall in order to raise funds for the St. Patrick's Day Parade.