I fear you may have misunderstood the OP's question.

He MAY be asking if it will be like NY or Boston - where the entire city is decked in green, half the people on the streets are weaing green cardboard derbies plastered with shamrocks and the other half huge buttons that say Erin go bragh! Or kiss me, I'm Irish.

He needs to understand the context - and what would be appropriate - or make him look ridiculous.

My thoughts exactly. There's a big difference between St Patrick's Day events, and dressing up in green and wearing shamrocks, etc.

I have a feeling St Patrick's Day in Scotland is a lot like it is in Canada- an excuse to go out and drink, with an emphasis on Guinness and Irish folk rock music. We don't do the parade/dress in green thing here, either. I'm always a little surprised at how big a deal it it is in the US. We celebrate Thanksgiving differently, too- here it's about eating, drinking, and politely putting up with your relatives in the peace and quiet of your own home (a lot like Christmas Day, without the presents). No parade, no pilgrims, no shopping frenzy, etc.

A simple "It's not the same as Boston or NYC" would have sufficed instead making the OP feel like an idiot for asking a reasonable question. Add a couple of useful links and you actually have a helpful answer instead of, yet again, making someone wish they'd never posted.

"<i> . . . yet again, making someone wish they'd never posted.</i>"

:? very interesting comment for a first time ever post. So, did you re-register under a new screen name to get your licks in? Or perhaps you are a returning 'ban-ee'?

Your profile says it all >><B>Interests and hobbies: </B> Crack cocaine and hookers.<<

I've never been banned Janis but deregistered for personal reasons. Nice to see the usual level bonhomie continued in my absence though.

Assuming things are the same all over the world is not a reasnable question. It's an extremely unreasonalbe question.

A reasonable question would have been - I don;t suppose it's celebrated there but are there any places in Scotland where there might be any festivities for St Patrick's Day?

My Scottish Grandfather always wore orange on St Patrick's day. He used to tell me that's what the Scots wear on March 17th. I have no idea if this is/was true but I always try to wear orange in his memory.

"<i>He used to tell me that's what the Scots wear on March 17th.</i>"

being an Orangeman is fine in some areas - definitely not in others. (My Mom usually dressed me in orange going to school on Match 17 -- but thankfully none of the other kids knew what that meant. They thought I was <i>just being janis</i>) >)

Sassy, your grandfather must have been a Protesant as that is what was (not sure if it is any longer true) what non catholics wore on St. Patrick's Day.

Yes Loveitaly, he was. He never made it to Scotland during his lifetime and I don't know where he got the orange idea from but I can still see him in his orange jumpsuit. I would love to be in Scotland on St Patrick's day to see if anyone does wear orange. Maybe the OP will post back to tell us or maybe not after some of these comments.

"<i>I don't know where he got the orange idea from</i>"

It isn't a mystery/secret. Do some research/googling and ALL your questions will be answered . . .

Wearing orange in Scotland (or Ireland for that matter) in some areas on March 17th can be just as foolhardy and dangerous as wearing lots of green would be in other areas. Sectarian divides in some areas are just as strong as they ever were.

Well, let's hope that it is a good thing that the OP will be traveling abroad, as gaining a bit more understanding of cultural sensitivities would be a good thing for them....
And it was a silly question.

We had a long thread about it a while back:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...in-ireland.cfm

Padraig's quoted thread: 133 replies, nearly all relatively (in Fodor's terms) good natured or polite, diverging from the OP but remaining interesting and informative.

Maybe I am over nostalgic, but things aren't what they used to be.

Hi Weegie, I found that Glasgow St Patrick's Fest link but couldn't make it work....looking better now.
I don't post much now, got fed up with the 'usual level of bonhomie'

This reminds me of the poster who wanted to know how July 4 was celebrated in Europe....
Certainly people dress in green etc in Glasgow but they know the unwritten rules, eg where not to go. If you don't, then find out first - most places are ok but bars with royal names or union jacks outside are a no-no.

Willit I agree. I read the old post and people back then were a lot nicer.

I also know why my Grandfather wore orange. He was raised Protesant and I was raised Catholic. I just don't know who told him he should wear orange because the Internet wasn't around when he was growing up.

It's not wrong to ask a question like this and the OP wanted to respect a country she hasn't been to before. She didn't know, so she asked.

"<i>I just don't know who told him he should wear orange because the Internet wasn't around when he was growing up.</i>"

It is just one of those things one knows - or doesn't. Your grandfather probably didn't need to be 'told'. My suggestion was for you to search out the reasons, but now it seems you already knew . . .

Nice to see still popping on Alihutch. You'd think Scotland was like 1980's Beirut from some of the responses on here.

back from Scotland and just posting to say, all of you who were mean and angry about my questions are bigger idiots than u made me feel and obviously have never been to scotland during march, because they did infact celebrate st.patricks day everywhere we went, shamrocks hung in the window people wore green, so thanks for nothing. keep ur comments to yourself!

How gracious a post, we are so glad you visited.

"keep ur comments to yourself!"

I don't think that is how a travel discussion board works. Most people genuinely tried to help you.

I just saw this ^ I wasn't referring to the people that were kind and helpful. I was referring to the ones that were rude and mean.

I very much appreciate those that helped and gave me useful advice, and I had a wonderful time, Scotland was truly amazing and beautiful and i loved it very very much.

well i for one am grateful to the OP for resurrecting this thread - i haven't had such a good laugh in ages.

i love the way this board works - someone asks a daft question, possibly based in this case on a hazy idea of the geography of the British Isles, someone replies telling them it's daft, someone else gets the hump on the OP's behalf, another person posts some information which might be useful but gets lost in the general morass, the OP comes back feeling hurt that someone pointed out that s/he is an idiot, and so we go on.

Ashley, i have been informed and entertained.

thank you.

I think that foreigners may not get the full idea of ethnic parades in the US.

There is way more than the St Patrick's Day Parade - although that is the largest - with more than a million viewers in NYC alone and hundreds of thousands of marchers.

However, we also celebrate Columbus Day, von Steuben Day, Puerto Rican Day, Dominican Day, Indian Day - and there are local parades for every nationality you can think of.

This is a way of celebrating our differences as well as our various heritages - and on the day in question - everyone belongs to that group - figuratively.

Understandable that others may not get it - since other countries don't have the huge number of immigrant groups, nor make the same effort to appreciate all of these cultures.

I was an idiot for asking the question I asked. I was curious and wanted to be informed before making the trip over there. Nothing idiotic about it.

Where did you get to Ashley?

edinburgh, portree,skye.

Coatbridge St Patricks Day Festival.Lots of green white and gold, leprechauns and shamrocks. Any excuse to come together as a community and have fun, though there are always people who take it too seriously so be careful. It's not really an Edinburgh thing but head Glasgow way and enjoy! Yeah, we totally celebrate it, don't know the numpties who say otherwise.