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St Patrick's Day is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and is a global celebration of Irish Culture and is held annually on 17th March. The day is celebrated in many parts of the world, mainly by Irish organisations and communities. To celebrate, people wear green clothing on the day and host parties which feature green coloured Irish food and drinks. Even though it's a bank holiday in Ireland, it isn't for some parts of the world but they still manage to celebrate in their own way. 

History:

This day of celebration is based mainly on religion and some of the usual practices in celebrating include drinking alcohol, wearing green and attending mass. The reason we celebrate St Patrick's Day is to commemorate the feast day of Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick was a Christian missionary (a Christian missionary is an ambassador of Christ) who later became the patron saint of Ireland. St Patrick's day is held on 17th March which is believed to occur with the time of his death. Ireland, United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand are just a few of the many countries that celebrate and pay respect to this day.

The common St Patrick's Day symbol is the shamrock. A Shamrock is the leaf of a clover plant and a symbol of Holy Trinity. People choose to wear the colour green and the flag of the Republic of Ireland is always seen in parades around the world. Other Irish symbols that are seen on St Patrick's Day include the harp and the Leprechaun with a pot of gold.

How to celebrate:

• Wear green
• Accessorise
• Learn some Irish words and phrases
• Learn to Irish dance
• Learn the history
• Celebrate in Ireland (the best way to celebrate)
• Eat traditional Irish food
• Listen to Irish music
• Host or attend a party or village parade
• Check out the pubs

How different places celebrate:

In the UK we celebrate with heavy drinking, green clothing, horseracing and parades. In New Zealand as well as Australia, they celebrate by drinking beers and alcoholic drinks and occupy the streets from the afternoon until night-time and they also wear green clothing and accessories. The US wear green items of clothing, New York and Indiana colour their rivers, fountains and canals with green dye.