From New York to Nairobi, some of the world’s most famous landmarks will be going green on March 17.
We’re not just saying it because it’s ours, but few national holidays resonate around the world as much as St. Patrick’s Day, as we’ll see for ourselves once again in a little over a month’s time.
This year, as is the case every year, some of the world’s most famous landmarks will be going green on March 17 and Tourism Ireland announced a number of high-profile additions to the usual suspects on Thursday.
The most famous of all of the new additions is One World Trade Center in New York City, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most iconic buildings in the Big Apple.
City Hall and Heron Tower in London will also be going green on the day, while Plaça de Catalunya and the fountains on Gran Via in Barcelona, Matsue Castle in Japan, Gwangandaegyo (Diamond Bridge) in South Korea and even a rhino statue in Nairobi National Park are amongst the other new additions.
Even the famous red carpet in Cannes (le tapis rouge lumineux) will become the ‘green carpet’ on 17 March.
The new sites will join some ‘old favourites’ which have gone green in previous years – including *pauses for breath* the London Eye, Nelson’s Column in London, Selfridges department store in London, the Colosseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Burj al Arab in Dubai, the Roue de Paris, the ‘Welcome’ sign in Las Vegas, Niagara Falls, the Empire State Building in New York, the Sky Tower in New Zealand and the Great Wall of China *exhales*.
As is always the case, Chicago will go all out to celebrate Paddy’s Day with a number of famous landmarks turning green on the day; you can check out the list of buildings around the world in full below.
First time greenings marked *
Great Britain
- London Eye
- Nelson’s Column, London
- Heron Tower, London *
- City Hall, London *
- Selfridges, London
- Selfridges, Birmingham
- Trafford Centre, Manchester
North America
United States
- One World Trade Center (formerly Freedom Tower), New York *
- Empire State Building, New York
- Aisling Irish Community Center, New York
- Civic Opera House, Chicago
- Chicago Gaelic Park
- Irish American Heritage Center, Chicago *
- John Hancock Center, Chicago
- Navy Pier, Chicago
- Novak Construction, Chicago
- One Prudential Plaza, Chicago
- Sheraton Grand Chicago
- State Street, Chicago
- Wrigley Building, Chicago
- ‘Welcome’ sign, Las Vegas
- City Hall, San Francisco
- Pacific Science Center, Seattle
Canada
- Niagara Falls (on both the Canadian and US sides)
- Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa
- The Distillery District, Toronto
- Whistler (ski resort)
Mainland Europe
Austria
- Wiener Riesenrad (Giant Ferris Wheel), Vienna
- Bergisel Sprungschanze Stadion (ski jump), Innsbruck
Belgium
- Manneken Pis statue, Brussels (“dressed” in Irish costume)
- City Hall, Antwerp *
- Cloth Hall, Ypres *
- Town Hall, Mons
Finland
- Irish Ice Fishing Championship, Tampere *
- Restaurant RantaCasino, Heinola
Croatia
- Bandić fountains, Zagreb *
Cyprus
- Municipal Town Hall, Nicosia
France
- Roue de Paris, Tuileries Gardens, Paris
- Irish Embassy, Paris
- Tapis rouge lumineux (red carpet), Cannes *
- L’Hôtel de Ville, Cannes
- La Croisette, Cannes
- Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes
- Tour de la Castre au Suquet, Cannes
Germany
- Neumünster church, Würzburg
- Rathaus, Würzburg
Italy
- Colosseum, Rome
- Leaning Tower of Pisa
- Pozzo di San Patrizio (St Patrick’s Well), Orvieto *
- Teatro Alfonso Rendano (Rendano Theatre), Cosenza *
- Castello normanno-svevo (Swabian Castle), Cosenza *
- Municipio (Town Hall), Cosenza *
- Fontane Danzanti (Dancing Fountains), Cosenza *
Latvia
Poland
- Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw
- University Bridge, Bydgoszcz
- Spodek (arena), Katowice *
- Galeria Echo (shopping centre), Kielce
- Father Bernatek (Kladka Bernatka) footbridge, Kraków
- Lipska Street flyover, Kraków
- Tauron Arena, Kraków
- Arena Lublin
- Ratusz (Town Hall), Poznań
- Stadion Wroclaw
- Ratusz (Town Hall), Rzeszów
Portugal
- National Sanctuary of Cristo Rei (Christ the King statue), Lisbon
- Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães, Cascais
The Netherlands
Romania
- Sheraton Hotel, Bucharest *
Slovakia
- Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel, Bratislava
Spain
- Plaça de Catalunya, Barcelona *
- Fountains on Gran Via, Barcelona *
- City Council, Murcia *
Switzerland
- The Rhine Falls, near Zurich
Australia and New Zealand
Australia
- Town Hall, Sydney
- State Library of New South Wales, Sydney
- Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane
- Perth Airport, Perth *
- The Bell Tower, Perth
- Council House, Perth
- Elizabeth Quay, Perth
- State Library of Victoria, Melbourne
New Zealand
Brazil
Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro
Sede da FIESP (headquarters of Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo), São Paulo *
China
Great Wall of China
Ethiopia
Ethiopian Airlines Airbus A350, Addis Ababa *
Israel
- Water Tower, Ramat Gan (near Tel Aviv) *
Japan
- Torii of the Ise Grand Shrine, Ise, Mie Prefecture
- Matsue Castle, Matsue *
- Karakoro Art Studio, Matsue
Kenya
Rhino statue, Nairobi National Park *
Mozambique
Fortress of Maputo *
Palestine
Yasser Arafat Museum, Ramallah *
Russia
Rwanda
Kigali Convention Centre, Kigali *
South Korea
Gwangandaegyo (Diamond Bridge), Busan *
United Arab Emirates
- Burj Al Arab hotel, Dubai
Uganda
- Equator Sign and Line, Uganda
