Massachusetts Named Best Place to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
We do Saint Patrick proud in Massachusetts. At least, I think we make Saint Patrick proud. Maybe he looks at all the public drunkenness and debauchery with sheer horror. But I’m thinking he’s got that date circled on his ghost calendar because he knows he’s going to be honored in our odd annual way, filled with questionable decisions and so many Guinness Stouts.
Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century. So why the close tie to drinking? Over time St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into a celebration of Irish culture and heritage featuring parades, festivals, and gatherings where drinking alcohol is a common tradition. The date of Saint Patrick’s Day falls during Lent, a period of fasting and abstinence in the Christian calendar, which in history led to a temporary lifting of restrictions allowing for indulgence in food and drink. Because of this, drinking has become deeply ingrained in the festivities surrounding St. Patrick’s Day.
RELATED: These are the 5 “Most Irish” towns in Massachusetts.
Chummy Tees, a novelty t-shirt company, created an index that ranks the best and worst states to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year. The index was created by analyzing the quantity, affordability and popularity of St. Patrick’s Day events listed on Eventbrite in every state. They also used Google Keyword Planner to find the number of St. Patrick’s Day related searches made each month. Based on these factors, each state was then given a maximum score out of 100. And Massachusetts led the way, scoring a solid 75.27 out of 100.
Massachusetts has the 7th highest number of St. Patrick’s Day events and the highest Google search popularity for St. Patrick’s Day with a monthly average of 245 searches per 100,000 residents. Ticket prices for St Patrick’s Day events were found to start at just $10 around Mass.
Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio round out the Top 5 best places to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Mississippi was found to be the worst state to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in. Their overall score was a dismal 18.37 out of 100.
