Tourism Ireland’s annual 'Global Greening' initiative began back in 2010, when just the Sydney Opera House and the Sky Tower in Auckland went green. Now, in 2019, they are celebrating the biggest 'greening' to date.
To celebrate our patron saint, almost 425 sites in 53 different countries have signed up to take part. From Rome to Rio and from London to Las Vegas, a host of famous buildings around the world will be turning on their green lights.
Every year, the sites and buildings get quirkier and more spectacular, and 2019 will be no different.
- Pari Roller in Paris: one of the biggest street-skating events in the world, which will see hundreds of roller-skaters gliding through the streets of the French capital. They’ll stop at the Palais de Chaillot, where they’ll carry bright green glow sticks to celebrate our national day.
- St. Patrick’s Bike Parade in Amsterdam: a festive green procession of bicycles, with the bike wheels illuminated with green LED lights. The parade will bring together two cultures: the bike (iconic for Amsterdam) and St. Patrick’s Day (known for parades and turning the world green).
- ‘Niki’ Cathay Pacific DC-3 airplane in Hong Kong: a replica of Cathay Pacific’s second airplane, located in Cathay City, the headquarters of Cathay Pacific.
- A leopard statue called ‘Chiu’ in Kenya: a statue in Karura Forest in Nairobi, made by a local artist from recycled scrap metal.
- ‘Mac the Moose’ in the city of Moose Jaw, in Saskatchewan, Canada: a steel and concrete sculpture of a moose, standing 32 feet tall.
- Perlan in Reykjavík: a futuristic, revolving glass-domed restaurant on the top of Öskjuhlíð hill in the Icelandic capital.
- The world’s largest Muskoka chair in Gravenhurst, Canada: at 21 feet high, this distinctive, outdoor chair made of wood is located in the city of Gravenhurst in the Muskoka region of Ontario.
- The Wawa Goose – an 8.5 metre, metal goose statue, which stands along the TransCanada Highway outside the small town of Wawa in northern Ontario, Canada.
- The Big Fiddle of the Ceilidh – the world’s largest fiddle, on Cape Breton Island in Canada.
- Two of Australia’s famous ‘Big Things’ – The Big Banana and The Big Kangaroo; and a carp statue, called ‘Fridolin’, in the town of Höchstadt an der Aisch, in Bavaria.
Click through our gallery above to see some of the spectacular displays.
