Fun Facts About St. Patrick’s Day and World’s Shortest Parade in Hot Springs, Ark.
Okay, what other holiday in the year is the biggest for drinking alcoholic beverages? Did you say St. Patrick's Day? If so, you are correct. Right behind Christmas, New Year's Eve and the 4th of July, St. Paddy's Day is the most popular drinking day of the year. According to WalletHub, the London-based owner of Guinness project says that more than 33 million Irish-Americans and other people around the world will consume some type of cocktail or beer March 17. And to be more specific, the personal finance website just released its St. Patrick’s Day By The Numbers report, which highlights the green germane to this costly celebration – from the $4.6 billion that we’ll spend on St. Paddy’s Day 2015 to the $1.3 million market value of a pot of gold.
Some of other interesting stats include:
- $36.5: Average amount St. Patrick’s party-goers will spend
- 70 percent: Increase in cabbage shipments during St. Patrick’s week
- • 13 million: Pints of Guinness will be consumed worldwide on St. Patrick’s Day
- 276: Drunk-driving casualties on St. Patrick Day (2009 - 2013)
- $60,967: Median income for Irish-American households (vs. $52,250 for all households)
Here are some other interesting facts about St. Patrick's Day.
- 52.3 percent of Americans plan on celebrating the day in some way
- 82.4 percent of Americans will wear green on St.Patrick's Day
- 45 pounds of green dye will be used to turn the Chicago River green
In addition, there will be St. Paddy's Day parades all around the world including the shortest parade route in the world, which happens to be not far from Texarkana in downtown historic Hot Springs National Park, Ark. Celebrity Grand Marshall for the first ever 12th Annual World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade is NASCAR legend Mark Martin.
There will also be a Kissing the Blarney Stone Contest and an official measuring of the street (98 feet) before the parade. The parade will feature 50 green-clad Elvis impersonators, 40 marching bands, marching Irish wolf hounds and lots of more green. Topping off the evening at 7:30 p.m. is a free concert from country music duo The Swon Brothers. All activities start at 4:30 p.m. for more information go to HotSprings.org.