Why does the U.S. celebrate St. Patty's Day, but not other countrys' "Yay us" holidays?

And, Canada.

Have you forgotten about Oktoberfest? Honestly, Americans take any opportunity to celebrate, eat tons of food and drink.

@jonsblond But Oktoberfest isn’t really big – there’s a general lack of marketing in that direction, and I’ve never found someone who takes off of work to celebrate it (but I know tons who don’t go to work/school on St. Patty’s).

Everybody is “Mexican for a Day” where I live on Cinco de Mayo. And everyone celebrates Chinese New Year, not just the Asians.

Around here it’s any opportunity to go to a bar.

Because there must be a lot of Catholics or Irish where you live? For the rest it’s a day to drink green beer and eat corned beef.

BTW: It is religious and it is celebrated in other countries, including it being a National Holiday for Ireland

Here in Milwaukee there will most likely be free bus rides and just like the link above, our bishop grants a lenten reprieve.

In my village, there are a lot of Irish Catholics…almost as many as us German Catholics. All of us are Irish for a day to celebrate with our Irish friends ;)

@MyNewtBoobs you need to visit Illinois then. Oktoberfest and Cinco de Mayo are very much celebrated here.)

@SpatzieLover Not really. I mean, it’s not a small population, but it’s not a large population. And it’s way bigger than Cinco de Mayo, even though we have tons of Hispanics.

@MyNewtBoobs College town? Excuse to drink.

As you said, so many Irish immigrants went to the USA that there are now millions of people with an Irish heritage.
I will however correct you. St. Patrick’s day is in fact religious. (the ‘St.’ is a clue)

@SpatzieLover No, Denver.

@SeaTurtle That’s true. But that’s more of a religious beginning – it’s now mostly secular in celebration, and more about being Irish (regardless of religion) than being Catholic, or Irish Catholic.

@MyNewtBoobs it’s not a secular celebration here where I live. There aren’t any protestants I know of actually celebrating the day though they may have leprechauns visit their kids over night like many schools do

Where I used to live in ND, they celebrate Icelandic, Swedish and Norwegian holidays.

@SpatzieLover Huh. We have tons of St. Patty’s merchandise at Walmart, Kroger, Big Lots, etc, the green shake at McDonald’s, Kegs and Eggs, a parade, and everyone gets pinched if they don’t wear some green – especially if they’re in grade school and don’t wear green, because kids will take any damn excuse to inflict pain one someone else and not get punished for it.

@MyNewtBoobs , If you think that it is not religious with the claim “a religious beginning – it’s now mostly secular in celebration,”
Where does that put Christmas ?

Here in California we celebrate any holiday we possibly can. The stores have Octoberfest, St Pat’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and even National Pancake Day. I don’t think there’s a single day you can’t find greeting cards for.

@MyNewtBoobs They aren’t celebrating St. Patrick’s day, they’re celebrating the watered down PC St. Patty’s Day for schools version…Leprechauns have naught to do with actual celebrating of a Saint’s feast day.

What drove me nuts was when stupid Americans on my study abroad program in Spain celebrated Cinco de Mayo. It’s not a celebration in Spain, since they lost Mexico. That would be like assuming the English celebrate American Independence Day. Way to make the rest of us look bad, drunk girls.

@SpatzieLover Which really more proves my point how big it is.

Perhaps St. Patty’s became popular when it became secularized, and started to involve drinking and a parade.

That way it was more of a celebration of green stuff and partying instead of being restrictively religious or nationalist, therefore widening its base of appeal.

Also, I think the Irish are generally popular in the US, which is why all those Kennedys kept getting elected. ;-p

Why does England celebrate St Patricks Day and do nothing for St Georges Day? I’ll tell you why, it’s because St Patricks Day involves copious amounts of alcohol.

Do Germen celebrate it too?curious..

@SpatzieLover – do you happen to know the reason behind the corned beef?

@stratman37 Despite the popular assumption in North America that corned beef dishes are typical of traditional Irish cuisine, it was not until the wave of 18th century Irish immigration to the United States that much of the ethnic Irish first began to consume corned beef. In Ireland today, the serving of corned beef is geared toward tourist consumption and most Irish in Ireland do not identify the ingredient with native cuisine. Source

In NYC, where I live close to, this year (2011) is the 250th St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Obviously it’s been around prior to the US becoming a nation. I think it’s big because many cities had a huge influx of Irish in the 1800’s and it became a tradition.

I think the reason Oktoberfest is not so big is because Oktoberfest celebrations run from August to October. There is not one specific day for Oktoberfest.

Cinco de Mayo may become bigger as time goes on.

@Pied_Pfeffer – nice work, thanx!

The US does not recognize St. Patrick’s day as a national holiday or give it any official governmental honors. It’s a widespread local tradition, however, owing no doubt to the huge numbers of Irish immigrants to the U.S, dating all the way back to the potato famine of mid-1800s. Some cities like Chicago have a particularly large Irish-American population & stage a big parade. Also, March 17 comes at a time of year when there’s not too much else going on holiday-wise.

@gasman Don’t forget Chicago’s dyeing the river green!

For the past 43 years the Chicago River turns green for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebration. One would ask how this is different from the rest of the year when the river is always a murky shade of green. The difference is both significant and breathtaking because the color green is identical to the greens of Ireland from where it got its name “The Emerald Isle.”

Source and photo