Text and photos by : Nina Sarmiento

Today is March 17 – St Patrick's Day.  What better way to celebrate this festival but to present a mini-slide show on how St. Patrick's day is being celebrated in Ireland. We hope that you'll love the photos and the lovely folksy tune "The Leprechaun (You're no Irish Laddie!)  performed by acoustic Celtic folk musician Marc Gunn.

Despite its religious origin – the holiday was established to honor Ireland's patron saint – St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by everyone, everywhere who want to have the luck of the Irish

In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day Parade is Ireland's biggest parade. The whole community participates in the parade from veteran, to girl guides, to sports clubs, dance clubs and migrant nationals groups. Everyone dresses up or prepares their own float in accordance to the yearly theme.

It's also customary to participate in the so-called Paddy 12 Pubs. The rule of the game is to visit 12 pubs until a specified time. In every pub, a person should consume one pint of beer. This is obviously another excuse to drink during the holiday.

This is also a day for foodies to sample tasty treats of the Irish food culture. There are small food stalls in the streets, where you can have some corned beef and cabbage, shepherd's pie, soda bread and bread pudding.

During the day, you can catch some street peformers, singing and dancing and just having fun.