E. [email protected] T. 0333 016 5253
St Patrick's Day parade NY

News St Patrick’s Day in Time-Lapse

17 March 2022 Kate

On the 17th March, Ireland and the world set about celebrating St Patrick’s Day – often accompanied by a pint of Guinness.

St Patrick’s Day is the celebration day of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. However religious ceremonies on the Emerald Isle have now been overtaken by partying and celebrating Irish culture and heritage on a global scale. Here we take a look at how such events and spectacles are captured and showcased via time-lapse videos.

Chicago River

St Patrick’s Day celebrations are keenly upheld by Irish immigrant populations in America and one of the most spectacular is held in Chicago.

The city on Lake Michigan, Illinois has a tradition of painting the river green for St Patrick’s Day. Every year the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers turn the river green before the start of the large parade.

It is a much filmed and attended event, and one of the best captures was taken from the Hyatt hotel by Peter Tsai. Here we get an amazing overview of the city and river and through the time-lapse footage, we can clearly see the river being turned green.

Others, such as TAPP Channel have taken drone time-lapse footage to capture the process of spreading a secret orange powder from the swirling boats to create a green river.

St Patrick’s Day Parades

Parades take place across Ireland, however again America’s Irish descendants enjoy putting on parades and spectacles too.

This amateur time-lapse video from St Paul, USA, shows the town parade complete with vehicles, dancers, and bands.  

Tourism Ireland incorporates time-lapse footage into its video celebrating St Patrick’s Day, showcasing the beauty of Ireland whilst also showing St Paddy’s Day activities around the world to highlight the reach and importance of one of the Emerald Isle’s favourite days.


With Tourism Ireland allowed to turn Sydney Opera House green in honour of St Patrick’s Day as captured in this time-lapse footage, it indicates that the national day has truly gone global.

Time-Lapsing Irish Landscapes & Cities

Tourism to Ireland has also been helped with promotion by numerous time-lapse videos showcasing the best of the picturesque island, from stunning coastline to mountains to brightly painted towns. Here we’ve included a couple of our favourite videos, the first moody and magical and the second showcasing lush landscapes and the dramatic sea:

Whilst this time-lapse video of Dublin highlights the city, its architecture, and its atmosphere. Perhaps the perfect place to enjoy that pint of Guinness on St Patricks Day.

Related Tags

0333 016 5253 [email protected]

Time-Lapse Systems are a part of Hideaway Media Ltd (est. 2007). World leader in the provision of bespoke time-lapse capture and site monitoring solutions. UK and Worldwide.