Saint Patrick's Day Party Outfits & Costume Ideas For 2018

It is often said that the Irish who live abroad and their descendents are more Irish than those who live in Ireland. Many cities around the world celebrate St Patrick's Day on March 17th with parades. Marchers dress in costumes and paint their faces with Green, White & Gold to represent the Irish flag.

St Patrick's Day parades are commonplace all over Ireland too, with parades in most towns.  Organisations, communities, and families create elaborate floats on trailers and trucks. They create theatrical scenes on these trailers to represent, topical elements of society, both at home and internationally.

Businesses use the opportunity to promote their products and services using their branding and displaying current offers to an otherwise inaccessible public. Organisations, usually working for a cause, often use political satire to get their message across while families often participate just for 'the fun of it'.

St Patrick's Day parades are often 'street theatre' at its best so as you can imagine, there is no limit to the type of costumes sought and worn on the day.

Historically, the most popular costumes used in these parades across the world originate from within the religious, cultural and folklore traditions of Ireland. They are the Bishop's green outfit and crozier to represent St Patrick, himself and Leprechaun suits to represent our past beliefs in the 'little people' of the 'Other World'.

Many floats depict scenes from famous plays, musical performances, burlesque, and slapstick comedy. The sets are generally dressed as you would expect of a theatre stage with props and people or animals in costume, makeup, wigs, and masks.

Participants are judged on their set, costumes, make-up, and performance. Plan ahead... do you want to portray a president, a queen, a representative of the church or a celebrity, the choice is yours. Go to your local costume shop and choose the best Saint Patricks Day costume and outfit most suited to your theme. Join the 'parade', 'Carnival', 'mardi gras', 'fiesta' in style and give yourself the best chance of winning the 'Best' in all categories.