It’s a time of the year when green has nothing to do with envy.

You’ll see green beer (lots of green beer), green shirts, green ties, green dresses, maybe green eggs and corned beef with cabbage.

St. Patrick’s Day and all of its merriment is on the horizon.

When is Saint Patrick’s Day 2025?

This year, Monday, March 17, 2025, is Saint Patrick’s Day. Many parades and other events in Delaware are scheduled for March 15 and 16. Here is our complete list of events.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

St. Patrick’s Day events: What’s happening where? St. Patrick’s Day weekend fun from Wilmington to Dewey Beach

Who was St. Patrick?

St. Patrick was born in Great Britain during the fourth century to wealthy parents. According to History.com, at age 16 he was taken captive by Irish raiders. He was held in captivity and turned to religion for solace and became a devout Christian. Patrick returned to Britain and became a priest and was sent to Ireland to convert the Irish.

Two fun facts about Patrick – he didn’t lead all the snakes out of Ireland and he was never formally canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church. After helping spread Christianity throughout Ireland, he was proclaimed a saint by popular acclaim since there was no formal process for canonization when he died.

Why is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated on March 17?

March 17 is the day St. Patrick is believed to have died. 

When were St. Patrick’s Day celebrations started?

According to History.com, St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated since the ninth or 10th century. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade occurred on March 17, 1601, in St. Augustine, Florida. The parade was organized by the Spanish Colony’s Irish vicar Ricardo Artur. New York City’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade was in 1772 as homesick Irish soldiers marched through the city.

Since those humble beginnings, the celebration has grown with large parades in many major cities like New York, Boston and Chicago.

Why do we wear green on St. Patrick’s Day?

For one, it’s to avoid the leprechauns. The green makes one invisible to them so you don’t get pinched by the cheeky fairies.

However, according to History.com, the color green is a rebellious way for Ireland to claim their saint. St. Patrick’s original color was blue. However, the Irish used the color of green – the color of the shamrock St. Partick used to describe the Holy Trinity.

Green is also a sign of Irish defiance from England. The color was then weaved into St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the United States after Irish immigrants arrived in the 1800s.

Still, you need to watch out for the leprechauns.

Why do we eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day?

According to thekitchn.com, corned beef in the 19th century was a luxury item in Ireland. Most Irishmen ate a salted pork akin to bacon. However, when families migrated to the United States, the salted pork was too expensive, but the corned beef wasn’t. It was the Irish-American’s consumption of it along with cabbage – which was the cheapest vegetable – that led to the traditional meal.