St. Pat's Green River in Chicago

The Chicago River Turns Irish Emerald Green for Saint Patrick's Day

Mar 5, 2008

Chicago is famous for a large St. Patrick's celebration, which is unique as the only city that dyes a major river Irish green. The river turns emerald for St. Pat's.

St. Patrick's' Day in Chicago is celebrated with gusto. Chicago hosts not one, but two, major St. Pat's parades. Saint Patrick's Day in the Windy City is unique because the entire Chicago River gets dyed bright green in honor of the Irish holiday. Dates in this article have been updated for 2009.

Saint Patrick's Day in Chicago

There are two major St. Pat's celebrations in Chicago. The South Side Irish Parade is held on March 15. The City of Chicago Parade will be held on March 14 this year.

The Chicago River Turns Irish Emerald Green

The parade in the City of Chicago on March 14 is preceded with the joyous transformation of the murky waters of the Chicago River to a brilliant green. The river is transformed by a little bit of Irish magic and a lot of orange dye. That is right. The dye that turns the water green is actually orange!

How the Greening of the River Came to Be

The story of the history of the traditional greening of the Chicago River is related on the Chicago Saint Patrick's Day website and on the Green Chicago River website. Following is the tale behind the Green River.

The process of the greening of the Chicago River has evolved over time. In 1961 city workers discovered that the dye used to detect leaks in the Chicago River turned a brilliant Emerald green when combined with the river waters.

The discovery was made when Steven Bailey, the Business Manager of the Chicago Journeyman Plumbers Local Union #110, saw a city plumber wearing a white uniform with emerald green stains. The green stains were the perfect shade of Irish green. When Mr. Bailey asked the plumber how the color came to be, the plumber told him that the dye that was used to detect leaks turned that shade of green.

Magic Happens

Steven Bailey was inspired with an idea. He began to explore the option of dyeing the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day.

Today the transformation of the Chicago River is created by Mike Butler, his crew and the help of a magical leprechaun. Some claim that it is the power of the leprechaun that converts the orange dye into emerald green in the water.

Orange Dye, The Right Formula and a Little Leprechaun Magic

The city didn't get the formula right immediately. There was no precedent, formula, or recipe, for dyeing an entire river. The first year that they dyed the river they used 100 pounds of dye, which was too much. The river turned green, and stayed green for a week. Within a few years or trial and error, they got the desired emerald green results with 25 pounds of orange dye.

Environmental Concerns

In 1966, environmentalists complained that the parade committee was polluting the Chicago River with the oil based dye. Environmentalists were concerned that the dye would be toxic and detrimental to all living things.

In response to the environmental concern, the parade committee experimented with vegetable dyes. After some trial and error, a new formula was discovered. The formula, 40 pounds of the new dye, could produce a carpet of green river water for four or five hours.

Chicago River Turns Green on March 14

This year the Chicago River will be transformed into Irish, emerald green on March 15 at 10:45 AM. The orange dye is poured into the river and magically turns green. The best place to view the transformation is from the upper level bridges at Michigan Ave. or Columbus Drive.

The traditional Saint Patrick's Day Parade takes place at noon, after the river has been transformed. There are Irish festivities all weekend long at Navy Pier.

The copyright of the article St. Pat's Green River in Chicago in Illinois Travel is owned by Christine Nyholm. Permission to republish St. Pat's Green River in Chicago in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.