The Budapest Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2016

Going to the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade year after year pretty much means you’ll sooner or later run out of subjects to write about- there’s more people every year- check, the weather is always a tad better than predicted, under the auspices of the proverbial Irish luck- check, it’s amazing how many people turn out to an Irish parade without being necessarily Irish- check,  random people are always taken aback and try to guess what this is all about- check.

The one innovation of the year seemed to be the Guinness selfie stick, which could be chosen as a gift instead of the traditional silly hat- though which one of the items would make you actually look sillier when worn/used is open to debate. While the one innovation that is still missing is a food stand- there’s plenty of stout and whiskey to be had, but a hot dog stand or two would help ensure that people don’t get overly illuminated by the time the crowd reaches Saint Stephen’s. This seems to be the pain point where a lot of people wander off Irish rover style into the wilderness, with the rest marching on towards Instant.

I confess to having passed on the Instant part this year- the plan is always to have some pints of Guinness somewhere else, which somewhere else fittingly happens to be the Irish pub Becketts just around the corner, and then maybe come back later to check out the concerts. The concerts are an interesting bit actually, because some of them are not necessarily Irish, but a sort of often pleasant yet slightly eerie Celtic-Medieval fusion, but I am pretty confident I can revel in them next year as well.

Another commitment for next year (one of those things whiskey is pretty good at making your forget) is to be more colour coordinated. Well, better said, since it's always a tad chilly-windy during the parade, I should get a green coat, as I'm not sure I'm bold enough for an orange one, though my absolutely favourite outfit of this year's parade, which can be admired below, was coordinated around a splendid peach coloured item.

The Budapest Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2015

Brendan Behan claimed that the Irish do not have a nationality, but a psychosis, which might be correct- and it might also be contagious. No other nation in the world, particularly not a relatively tiny one, with 6 million people stranded on a remote island, could generate such a commotion in a Central European capital thousands of miles away from said island.

The crowds are larger every year, to the confusion and merriment of passers by- and not so much merriment for the folks stuck in their cars on Andrássy avenue as the long orange-white-green snake slowly crawled away towards Instant. Two little old ladies were so taken aback by the sight that they insisted this must be a political party, albeit they had no idea which one it could be, since the Irish colours are most contradicting if one takes into account the local political spectrum.

As a side note, each year the weather is forecast to be horrible to near apocalyptic and then it turns out just fine. Luck of the Irish, one could say.