This New England City Ranks No. 1 Best Place to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

Editor's note: This article was written by a Townsquare Media Northern New England contributor and may contain the individual's views, opinions, or personal experiences.

St. Patrick’s Day 2023

Dust off your favorite beer mug, grab your Irish newsboy cap and practice your best Irish accent because St. Patrick’s Day is coming in hot.

We do this funny thing in America where we take every holiday and turn it into a day for drinking. If that’s not your cup of tea (or whiskey), it can sometimes feel difficult and out of place to celebrate holidays like this one.

According to WalletHub, it’s projected that Americans will spend $6.85 BILLION for St. Patrick’s Day this year but that’s not even the wild statistic. Based on the same report, on this very holiday, there is a 174% increase in beer sales compared to the rest of the year.

174%! That’s quite a lot of beer!

Best Place to Spend St. Patrick’s Day

A lot of people in New England are Irish and the rest pretend to be on March 17. Let’s get one thing straight, though, just because I am Irish does not mean I’m sipping on a Guinness. Bleh.

The holiday is only one week away so it’s time to get your plan ready. Where is the best place to spend St. Patrick’s Day? One city just got ranked as No. 1 out of 200 cities for being the best place to celebrate the Irish holiday and it’s right next door to us here in Maine.

Any guesses?

You’re probably right. I feel like it’s pretty obvious…

Boston!

WalletHub compared 200 of the largest U.S. cities across 15 key metrics, ranging from Irish pubs and restaurants per capita to the lowest price for a hotel on St. Patrick’s Day to the weather forecast, and Boston came in at the top.

You can see the full breakdown of the study here but I’m just here to let you know that Boston is the best place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! It’s no surprise, there are Irish pubs every 5 feet in that city.

Here’s the Top 10 list:

1. Boston, MA
2. Philadelphia, PA
3. Chicago, IL
4. Pittsburg, PA
5. New York, NY
6. Reno, NV
7. Santa Rosa, CA
8. Naperville IL
9. Buffalo, NY
10. Boise, ID

Chicago also isn’t surprising because they dye their freaking river green!

Boston is definitely worth the day trip for the holiday but even though Portland didn't make the list, it's always a blast and a great place to be. You already know Bull Feeney's and Ri Ra will be holding it down!