Revelers mark St. Patrick's Day from Rolla to NYC

NEW YORK -- Crowds cheered and bagpipes bellowed as New York City's annual St. Patrick's Day parade kicked off Saturday, and people with a fondness for anything Irish began a weekend of festivities from the Louisiana bayou to Dublin.

With the holiday itself falling on a Sunday, many celebrations were scheduled instead for Saturday because of religious observances.

In Rolla, Mo., the Missouri University of Science and Technology continued a St. Patrick's tradition that began in 1908, when students declared the patron saint of Ireland also was the patron saint of engineers. A slate of events included a student portraying St. Patrick being transported downtown on a manure spreader.

In New York, the massive parade, which predates the United States, was led by 750 members of the New York Army National Guard. The 1st Battalion of the 69th Infantry has been marching in the parade since 1851.

Michael Bloomberg took in his last St. Patrick's Day parade as mayor, waving to a cheering crowd as snowflakes fell on Fifth Avenue. Marching just behind him was Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny,

Hundreds of thousands lined the parade route in New York, cheering the marching bands, dance troupes and politicians.

"We're crazy, the Irish, we're funny and we talk to everyone," said 23-year-old Lauren Dawson, of Paramus, N.J., who came to her first St. Patrick's Day parade.

Spectators watch as the the Chicago River is dyed green ahead of the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, Saturday, March, 16, 2013. With the holiday itself falling on a Sunday, many celebrations were scheduled instead for Saturday because of religious observances. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

In downtown Chicago, thousands along the Chicago River cheered as workers on a boat dumped dye into the water, turning it a bright fluorescent green for a few hours.

In a sea of people in green shirts, coats, hats, sunglasses and even wigs and beards, 29-year-old Ben May managed to stand out. The Elkhart, Ind., man wore a full leprechaun costume, complete with a tall green hat he had to hold onto in the wind.

"I've got a little Irish in me, so I'm supporting the cause," he said.

May bought the outfit online to wear to Notre Dame football games. But he figured it was fitting for this occasion, too.

"I probably will get to drink for free," he said, after posing for a photograph with a group of women.

Thousands of green-garbed revelers gaudily crammed the oak-shaded squares and sidewalks of downtown Savannah, Ga., on Saturday, for a celebration that's a 189-year-old tradition.

Led by bagpipers in green kilts, a parade kicked off Saturday morning, hours after customers began lining up at downtown bars. More than 1,000 worshippers also packed the pews of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist for the Mass that traditionally precedes the parade.

Bev Kehayes, of Greensboro, N.C., joined friends near the start of the parade route. She made hats with green feathers and flowers just for the occasion.

"It's good, clean fun. Heaven forbid there's a little alcohol involved," said Kehayes, who said she's missed only three of the celebrations in Savannah in 29 years.

In Maine, St. Patrick's Day prompted Gov. Paul LePage to relent on a vow to veto any bill that reached his desk before lawmakers pass his proposal to pay a state debt to hospitals. He signed a measure Friday allowing bars to serve alcohol a few hours earlier than usual.

About 1,500 miles southwest, the city of Houma, La., will hold an unconventional celebration today -- an Irish-Italian parade, with a celebration that features both Irish cabbage and Italian sausage. The event resumed last year after a 10-year hiatus.

Annapolis, Md., held its first St. Patrick's Day parade March 10. A 40-year-old parade tradition took on a sense of renewal March 3 in Belmar, N.J., a shore town that took a heavy blow from superstorm Sandy.

People dance during a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

Kenny, who visited Chicago for St. Patrick's Day last year, was again making the holiday a jumping-off point for an extended trip to the U.S., with stops in Washington and on the West Coast over the ensuing several days.

"I will use my visit to promote Ireland's many strengths and to further reinforce our deep and abiding political and economic relationship with the United States," Kenny said in a statement this week.

He and President Barack Obama were to meet at the White House on Tuesday and Kenny was to give Obama shamrocks, a tradition that dates to Harry S. Truman's administration. Obama also was slated to meet the Protestant and Catholic leaders of Northern Ireland's cross-community government, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness.

In Ireland, Dublin's five-day St. Patrick's Day festival was unfolding with a new addition. For the first time, up to 8,000 visitors from around the world were due to march in a so-called people's parade on Sunday, when Ireland's capital city also intends hold its usual procession of bands and pageantry.