Gold, leprechauns and of course all things green are starting to appear all around us as the month of March begins.

St. Patrick’s Day has been around for hundreds of years and was a holiday started in honor of St. Patrick, a missionary who incorporated clovers in his teachings. The holiday originated in Ireland, but has turned into a globally celebrated holiday and is extremely popular in the U.S. America. 

The month of March is known for St. Patrick’s Day, which will take place on Thursday, Mar. 17 with many celebrations around the world, but many South Dakotans will wait to engage in festivities until Saturday, Mar. 19 for the annual downtown Sioux Falls parade. St. Patrick’s Day is filled with a lot of amazing festivities and food and Sioux Falls is a perfect place to celebrate this Irish-originated holiday.

Sioux Falls will continue the tradition of the St. Patrick’s Day parade after a two-year break due to COVID-19. The 42nd Sioux Falls St. Patrick’s Day parade will take place on Saturday, Mar. 19, 2022 in downtown Sioux Falls starting at 11 a.m. with the annual painting of the shamrock. The celebrations will continue throughout the day in downtown Sioux Falls.

Another bonus to St. Patrick’s Day, besides all of the fun celebrations around Sioux Falls, is the St. Patrick’s Day-themed mint shakes. McDonald’s Shamrock Shake came back on Feb. 21, 2022, along with a mint shake featuring Oreos. Arby’s is also another fast food place with a well-liked St. Patrick’s Day chocolate mint shake. Arby’s brought their mint shake back earlier this year since it has become such a popular item on their menu. These items will not be on the menu for long, so do not forget to try them while they are still in season.

Besides all the mint shakes for St. Patrick’s Day, this year Cold Stone has a Lucky Charms-themed ice cream. It consists of Lucky Charms, more Lucky Charms marshmallows, whipped topping and gold glitter. This is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, but will be leaving the menu on Mar. 31, 2022.

Wearing green is also a common tradition of St. Patrick’s Day, that if forgotten, gives other people the right to pinch a person without any green on. Besides all the green wearing, the month of March is the perfect time for all these fun St. Patrick’s Day festivities.