St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York

The Chicago River is dyed green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day in Chicago March 17, 2007.

The Chicago River is dyed green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day in Chicago March 17, 2007.

A man play his bagpipe during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York March 17, 2007.

Hundreds of bagpipers, drummers, police officers, firemen, U.S. army soldiers and high school students made their way up Manhattan's Fifth Avenue despite the chilly weather for the 246th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday.

    Ten to 15 times more spectators donning green hats, green coats, flashing green necklaces and shamrock stickers lined up the streets behind police barricades for the nation's oldest event, even 14 years older than the Declaration of Independence.

    Almost everything was green. Even a police dog patrolling near St. Patrick's Cathedral walked with a green collar.

    The parade started at the 44th Street at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) and ran all the way up to the 86th Street. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, his predecessor Rudolph Giuliani and Senator Charles E. Shumer were among those who marched.

    Within the marchers, New York City firemen were among the most distinctive. A total of 343 firemen carrying 343 U.S. national flags took part in the parade, paying tribute to the 343 firemen killed in terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

    When the high school girls showed up and performed tap dance on the street, people started cheering.

    "They are so beautiful, so pure, and so elegant," a woman lauded.

    "The parade draws 160,000 marchers, 65 bands, and 2 to 2.5 million spectators today, "John J O'Connor, president-director of the St. Patrick's Day Parade and Celebration Committee, told Xinhua.

    The St. Patrick's Day has a history of more than 1,500 years. It is celebrated worldwide by the Irish people on every March 17 to honor the man who brought Catholicism to Ireland.

    Nowadays, both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing at least one article of green-colored clothing, eating Irish food such as corned beef and cabbage and imbibing Irish beer.

    To facilitate Saturday's parade, people spent all night clearing the snow after a harsh winter storm battered the U.S. East Coast on Friday.

    Even as the parade got underway, there was still some controversy on the march. Earlier this week, the parade's chairman, John Dunleavy, accused firefighters of showing up to the parade drunk and moved them from their usual lead spot to the middle of the parade. And in response, the fire unions called for his stepping down.

    On Friday, Mayor Bloomberg took the fire department's side.

    "My advice to the guy running the parade is: Look, nothing's perfect. Lighten up! You have rules. Rules are there to be guidelines. Don't enforce 'em at this level," he said.

    But the parade organizers insisted on their decision, putting the Fire Department in the middle and demanding only those in firefighter's uniform are authorized to march.

2007-03-19