St. Patrick’s Day celebrations mean major cities all across the United States are preparing for a wild weekend jam packed with things to do — parades to watch, pubs and bars to visit, and much more. Across the country, the Irish population of these cities come out and come together to celebrate the day.

In New York, they have the biggest celebration in the country with two million people in attendance and a six-hour long parade, this is the spot to be for the holiday. And cities like Chicago and Savannah, Ga., take a different approach to celebrating. Both cities have parades with the expected crowds of thousands of people. What makes Chicago and Savannah unique is that both cities dye the public water green. In Savannah, the city holds a three-day festival for the holiday, and in the week leading up to the fest, you can see all of the fountains being dyed green or what the people of Savannah call the “greening of the fountains.”

In Chicago, there are the usual activities of aimlessly wandering the city all day, stopping at the bars that have authentic Irish meals and live music, and you will get to see the Chicago River dyed green like the fountains. The dye is derived from vegetation and algae which is not at all harmful to the river itself and it actually promotes life for whatever it is that resides in the river.

With all of these celebrations across the United States, it raises the question, what does Saint Patrick’s Day look like in the place where it originated? When I was a tourist in Dublin, Ireland, I was the social American that would talk the ears off  the local people. Many of my main questions were cultural. It was generally surface level stuff until we got onto celebrations of holidays. I reached out to my friend from years ago, and we were able to talk about how things have changed and what celebrations are coming up for the holiday. Aiden Murphy based in Dublin, explained the differences in Ireland’s Saint Patrick’s Day and Chicago’s Saint Patrick’s Day.

“The celebrations here are fully focused on the heritage of this day,” said Murphy. “Yes, there are activates and events to do and be a part of, but here it’s all about why we celebrate in the first place.”

Jacintha MacClenny from Cork, Ireland, is a neighbor of mine. She said the same thing but in Cork there are far less celebrations aside from the local parades.

“There is an endless number of pubs with local singers and dancers putting on shows across the city,” she said. “The churches are usually doing something that day as well with services usually going on through the day.”

She explained that in Cork it is all about the remembrance and honor.  MacClenny said she is not a fan of the United States’ celebrations. She said that she and many others in Ireland find how we celebrate “disrespectful to an extent” and that we are “just a bunch of drunks looking for a reason to get drunk.” This opinion is easily understandable, as in the United States on Saint Patrick’s Day, about 40% of traffic fatalities are due to drunk driving.

“Americans have an idea of how to celebrate the day yes, but at its core it’s much more than a reason to get drunk publicly,” MacClenny said.

In Ireland, people are more focused on the heritage and religious aspects the day brings and honoring the history of their country. In the United States, it’s a different story. With the green water and the many cities here abuzz with constant partying, it is clear where the priorities lie. Both celebrations are fun, but they reflect different approaches to what it means to celebrate Ireland’s patron saint and Irish heritage.