St Patrick's Day in Chicago: Dyeing the River Green
A tradition in Chicago for St. Pat's Day is to dye the Chicago River a bright green. People line the streets and bridges between Wabash Street and Columbus Avenue, starting about 8:30 a.m. Police boats patrol up and down, a large tourist boat with bagpipers and dignitaries goes back and forth, and then about 9:45, the two 'star' boats appear. The first one has boatmen dumping a chemical of some sort that starts orange and becomes green. The second one is a skiff that speeds back and forth mixing up the water until the green has spread to cover the area. It's quite festive during the "greening" and then during the parade that follows.
You're seeing the iconic Wrigley Building front and center. I did not increase saturation -- the sun is out!!! The sky is blue! The clouds are fluffy! It's almost 45 degrees F. People are smiling! Scenes behind this end result: http://365project.org/taffy/special-photos/2014-03-15
Super fun and funky! Always reminds me of one of my favorite lines from the movie The Fugitive, "If they can dye the river green, why can't they dye it blue the other 364 days of the year?" :P
I had read about this but have never seen a shot of it. What a great photo! Your detail is amazing and those colors - ahh! Blue skies for you - how wonderful!
Well I have seen it all now! I hope the dye is harmless to the fish, do you know what they use? It looks fabulous on the large, i Like the composition too. Is it HDR?
@elaine55 Thanks Elaine! Yes, it was three shots because the level of lighting was so different from river to building to sky. Once combined, I just tried to keep it simple and balanced. The stuff they use is not a dye which would cause problems and doesn't seem to have any adverse effect on flora/fauna in the river. We have a very active river conservation group and I think they watchdog carefully. I've never gone down there before as I usually don't get up that early on a Saturday!
Wow what a wonderful tradition! I have never heard of this before. A fabulous capture of the overlooking buildings and that green is just spectacular! Fav!
Oh, fun. I've always wanted to see water dyed green. We missed it in Indianapolis last year because we couldn't find the canal they dyed. Will have to check to see if they do it in Boston.
With the green water and beautiful clouds, it's looking like Spring in Chicago! Awesome shot! Had no idea about the tradition of dying the waters green.
what an unusual idea. I thought it was funky processing and then read your write up. nice to get a shot documenting this tradition (especially such a good one!)
Great view, Taffy, very neat and clear detail. Strange light but very interesting. Are there so many Irish people in Chgo that you have to pay this tribute to St Patrick?
What a fun celebration! I have heard of the river being dyed green but have never seen a photo of it. This is a great capture of it with a beautiful skyline. Enjoy the festivities and the warmer weather!
@mara19500 There is a large population of Irish that settled here -- not necessarily in terms of percentage, but in terms of raw numbers. This has always been a huge holiday celebration here, with a few different parade areas and the river greening.
I had heard of this before but never seen an image of it a cool capture I bet a few people were out on the river bank for this one. How long does it stay green for.
Wow! Amazing sight and capture!
I wondered about the effect that might have on the river and its fauna and flora. Having read your comment above it's good to know that it's closely monitored. Great to have such fun if it's harmless.
@briggsy@dulciknit
Thanks David and Alison! It is harmless -- we have a very active river preservation group which is a good thing, and it only lasts about 2 hours or so, starting its fading within about an hour. David, you actually can't get down to the riverbank for this as it's roped off except for the ones who are orchestrating it. But the river bank is generally the cement wall except at kayak/canoe put in points where this all takes place.
What a fantastic shot. Love the green and the detail of the buildings that you captured. I saw this on the news. Nice to see it in a photo. Glad it does not last that long. Sounds like they know exactly what they are doing. FAV
When I was young, it was a tradition to jump off the bridge and swim to shore; seeing lack of people on bridge, I wonder if this tradition is no longer! (Yes, everyone knew the water was too cold, but risked it anyway.)
@francoise So interesting! Was this in Chicago? The police were not allowing anyone to stand on the bridges -- people and traffic could move back and forth but if anyone stopped to take photos, they were moved along.
@taffy Definitely in Chicago... A kid in my high school skipped school and tried to call it in as excused, but got caught because a photographer's fabulous shot of him leaping off the bridge ended up on the front page. I think the State Street bridge was the favorite place to jump. It's probably wisely been decided that it's not the greatest idea to allow drunken fools leaping into an icy river.
It has so many touches of signature Taffy from the clouds to the very crisp focus of the buildings. Then your expert processing of the color. I've always wondered what it would be like to see this event. I think they do it in Savannah as well. I swam that river in August for a Tri event and I did not like it. Maybe if it had been green? Hope St. Patrick's Day was fun! We O'Hares really love it. ;)
What a great tradition. St Patrick's Day is hardly celebrated outside of the Irish community in England, so it has been really interesting for me to to see shots from the USA.
Appreciate your time and comment shared on my Nest picture.
Love the green river and buildings in the background.......glad the weather co-operated!
I wondered about the effect that might have on the river and its fauna and flora. Having read your comment above it's good to know that it's closely monitored. Great to have such fun if it's harmless.
Thanks David and Alison! It is harmless -- we have a very active river preservation group which is a good thing, and it only lasts about 2 hours or so, starting its fading within about an hour. David, you actually can't get down to the riverbank for this as it's roped off except for the ones who are orchestrating it. But the river bank is generally the cement wall except at kayak/canoe put in points where this all takes place.