Since 1969, San Antonio has celebrated St. Patrick's Day by dyeing the river green, a tradition that continues with music and festivities.
Eileen Burke-Faught has been seeing green along the River Walk for St. Pat rick's Day since the San Antonio River first flowed with the artificial color more than 50 years ago. It’s not the blarney we’re talking about either.
Since she was a child in the 1960s, she has often shared a river barge with fellow members of the Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas, the San Antonio nonprofit her late Irish immigrant father, Sean Burke, co-founded to promote Irish heritage. One of the most enduring displays of such Irish bród or pride: a parade of Irish bands, bagpipers and dignitaries that still cruise the downtown river every mid-March, leaving in their wake a weekend of Irish-themed mirth, music and around 25 gallons of eco-friendly dye dubbed “emerald green.” “It's just so unique because our city is so unique,” said Burke-Faught, who has held just about every office at the Harp & Shamrock Society and continues to champion the seasonal tradition of painting the town, especially the river that runs through it, green. “And, you know, everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.' That Shamrock spirit will be on full display at the Bud Light St. Patrick's River Parades & Celebration, which runs Saturday and Sunday. The festivities include the traditional downtown River Walk parade, which starts around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, and the recently added Museum Reach river parade, which runs earlier upstream at 2 p.m. Saturday. Both parades are free. Other activities include live entertainment at the Arneson River Theatre and a festival at nearby La Villita, both Saturday and Sunday. There's also a new Emerald Run 5K at 11 a.m. Saturday at the VFW Post 76 at 10 10th St., and a Lucky Dog canine fashion show at 3:45 p.m. Saturday at the Arneson. DINING: Top 10 River Walk Restaurants for 2025 And then there's the annual dyeing of the San Antonio River. Since 1969, the tributary has been transformed into a vibrant green ode to the River Shannon, right down to temporarily taking the name of the famous river in Ireland for the St. Patrick's Day holiday. The Museum Reach stretch gets the green treatment 11 a.m. Saturday, while the River Walk stretch gets double the dye with applications at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. So what makes our river such a St. Paddy's destination to dye for? Here are some fun facts about the tradition's colorful history. It all started in 1969 with a band of River Walk business leaders and their jazz-playing leader. The 1968 World's Fair, best known as HemisFair '68, drew more than 6 million visitors during its six-month run, a boon for hotels and businesses up, down and around the River Walk. Many of those business leaders made up the Paseo del Rio Association, which was formed in 1968 to promote the River Walk to such visitors. HEMISFAIR: Civic Park Phase 2 opens 'I think HemisFair was the impetus of bringing that life here and getting tourism started here,' said Roslyn Castaneda, director of River Walk operations for Visit San Antonio, the marketing arm of the city that teams up with the Harp & Shamrock Society to put on the city's St. Patrick's Day events. 'And keeping that momentum going was just something that the businesses on the River Walk wanted to do.' To drum up continued commerce, the association drummed up the idea for a St. Patrick's Day river parade and weekend celebration. Leading the charge was the late Jim Cullum Jr., the famous River Walk jazz musician whose band played on public radio for nearly 25 years. Cullum was just in his 20s when he became the first president of the Paseo del Rio Association, which later became the San Antonio River Walk Association. Visit San Antonio absorbed the association in 2021. The first dye for the river came from a San Antonio air base. You can thank a member of Military City, USA for helping launch a St. Pat's tradition in San Antonio. The original green dye that colored the downtown river came from a friend of Cullum's at Lackland Air Force Base. The friend procured around a dozen or so packs of military-grade dye, the kind pilots use to disperse a giant circle of fluorescent green dye in the ocean to signal rescuers. The tradition was born at noon March 15, 1969, when Cullum and his crew of fellow Paseo del Rio members manned a barge that dropped the dye packets into the water as it winded its way through the horseshoe bend of the River Walk. Today's river dye is much safer. In the 1970s, organizers turned to food, drug and cosmetic dyes approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as the Express-News reported in 2023. These days, the official go-to is a nontoxic, food-grade dye approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Visit San Antonio will once again pump 25 gallons of the eco-friendly green dye into the San Antonio River near the downtown River Walk and nearby Museum Reach. Castaneda noted the dye is vetted with the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio River Authority to ensure its safety. The powdered dye is then mixed into a liquid form and sprayed into the river using two pumping systems on the back of a barge. Of course, the festivities started at an Irish pub. Green libations tend to go glass-in-hand with St. Patrick's Day. The River Walk's first St. Pat's celebration in 1969 kicked off at the floodgates by Kelly's, a former Irish pub and restaurant that flowed with green beer for the occasion. Kelly's was near what is now the Omni La Mansión del Rio Hotel. Green beer remains on tap for the St. Paddy's river parade, which now passes several Irish watering holes. Those include Durty Nelly's, a River Walk fixture since the early 1970s below the Hilton Palacio, and Waxy O'Connor's Irish Pub, which dishes out tasty fish and chips and other Irish grub across the river from the Omni La Mansión. The St. Patrick's festivities also are sponsored by Mad Dogs British Pub on the River Walk near the Hyatt Regency. The head of 'The Addams Family' was made honorary admiral. Actor John Astin, best known for his role as Gomez in the 1960s TV series 'The Addams Family,' was made honorary admiral of the city's first St. Patrick's river parade. Astin was in San Antonio at the time filming the comedy film 'Viva Max!' The River Walk has only missed a couple of dye jobs. There are only two reported instances of the River Walk going dye-free since '69. One was in 1971, when the Paseo del Rio Association decided to forgo the dye job because the Texas Water Quality Board did not have ample time to fully test the dye. The other was in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The river was dyed in 2021, though there was no parade. You can hear the dyeing of the river, too. On the Saturday dyeing of the river, a bagpiper provides musical accompaniment from one of the boats in the flotilla. 'He has to play the bagpipes for two hours, so there's some major lungs ,' Castaneda said. 'It's quite a spectacle for sure.' There once was a St. Patrick's street parade. The Harp & Shamrock Society used to hold a St. Patrick's Day street parade in conjunction with the river festivities, Burke-Faught said. The street parade started and stopped at what was then the downtown Joske's parking lot for the former department store. The nonprofit group stopped doing the street parade around 10 years ago due to costs. The river parade just gets greener and grander. When Burke-Faught first rode in that inaugural St. Pat's river parade in 1969, there was just a lead barge with music from the Central Catholic High School band and maybe a second barge with a handful of Irish dignitaries. Now the event averages 16 barges for the St. Patrick's Day celebration. In addition to bagpipers and dignitaries, this year's river parade will include the honorary Irishman of the year and several area families of Irish descent. Also onboard is a special court of River Walk Royalty candidates, who are crowned based on their fundraising efforts for the San Antonio Hospitality Foundation for scholarships. The raucous celebration ends with a quiet tribute. Much fun as it is for celebrants to rock the leprechaun gear and show off their shamrocks along the river banks, the city's St. Patrick's festivities do have a serious side. Burke-Faught will also maintain the tradition of laying a wreath at the Alamo at noon on St. Patrick's Day. At the annual ceremony, Burke-Faught reads the names of the dozen men from Ireland who fought at the Alamo in 1836.
Paseo Del Rio Association Harp &Amp Visit San Antonio St. Pat Military City San Antonio River Walk Association U.S. Department Of Agriculture Environmental Protection Agency San Antonio River Authority Joske Express-News Texas Water Quality Board Central Catholic High School Alamo San Antonio Hospitality Foundation Mad Dogs British Pub Eileen Burke-Faught Burke-Faught Jim Cullum Jr. Sean Burke Roslyn Castaneda John Astin Arneson Lucky Dog Pat Irishman Kelly Hilton Palacio Durty Nelly Gomez San Antonio River River Walk Irish Texas 10Th St. St. Patrick's Day River Harp &Amp Harp &Amp River Parades &Amp Top 10 River Walk Restaurants Arneson River Theatre La Villita VFW Post River Shannon Hemisfair '68 Lackland Air Force Base USA Alamo Omni La Mansión Del Rio Hotel Waxy O'connor's Irish Pub Omni La Mansión Hyatt Regency St. Patrick's Day Celebration World's Fair HEMISFAIR: Civic Park Phase 2 Museum Reach COVID River Walk Royalty Emerald Run The Addams Family Viva Max!
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
San Antonio Sports to announce new members of San Antonio Sports Hall of FameSan Antonio Sports will announce the newest members of the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame Tuesday afternoon.
Read more »
Volaris launches nonstop flights from San Antonio to Morelia, San Luis Potosi starting July 5San Antonio International Airport is expanding its flight options to Mexico with new nonstop routes to Morelia and San Luis Potosi on Volaris starting this summer.
Read more »
Measles exposure in San Antonio: Metro Health warns public to watch for symptomsSAN ANTONIO - San Antonio Metro Health confirms a person who was visiting San Antonio has tested positive for measles.The department is warning people who coul
Read more »
Measles Exposure Warning Issued To Texas ResidentsDifferent venues in San Marcos, San Antonio and New Braunfels have been warned about possible exposure.
Read more »
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with these San Antonio events and festivitiesSan Antonio is gearing up for St. Patrick’s Day celebration, with a variety of events and festivities planned throughout the city.
Read more »
Tejano fan fair, St. Patrick's Day: Things to do in San AntonioWeekend highlights also include Ian Moore, Alejandra Guzmán and tributes to ELO and ABBA.
Read more »