A boat travels down the Chicago River as it is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day festivities in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
The Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day can mean only one thing in Chicago: a bright green river.
Emerald-hued crowds streamed downtown for the annual river-dyeing, the aquatic mid-March tradition that precedes the city’s St. Paddy’s parade.
Sun-Times photographer Pat Nabong takes you there:
A boat travels down the Chicago River as it is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day festivities in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
People partake in St. Patrick’s Day festivities in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
A boat travels down the Chicago River as it is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day festivities in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
A person walks along the Chicago River as it is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day festivities in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
A boat travels down the Chicago River as it is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day festivities in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
People watch as the Chicago River is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day festivities in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Geese float on the Chicago River, which was dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day festivities, as passengers ride a boat in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
People watch the Chicago River get dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day festivities from the Trump Tower in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Bagpipers perform along Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Kids hand out freebies to spectators as they walk down Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Trinity Irish Dancers perform along Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Bartram Trail High School’s marching band from Florida performs during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade along Columbus Drive in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Spectators cheer during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Parade spectators walk down Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
A parade spectator lounges on a tree branch along Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Bill Conway (in green), the incoming alderman of the 34th Ward, marches with Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade along Columbus Drive in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Spectators cheer as the St. Patrick’s Day Parade travels down Columbus Drive in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Members of the Springfield Youth Performance Group march down Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza greets spectators as she walks down Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) waves to spectators as he marches down Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
A person marching with Ironworkers Local 63 waves to spectators as he walks along Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Roman Hensley, 9, performs a cartwheel along Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Parade goers dressed as leprechauns ride a float down Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
A Chicago police officer and a Cook County Sheriff’s officer carry a banner honoring Andrés Vásquez Lasso as they walk down Columbus Drive during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. Vásquez Lasso was fatally shot allegedly by Steven Montano while responding to a call of a gunman chasing a woman in the Gage Park neighborhood on March 1. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
Cole Brandon, 26, smokes while waiting for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade to start along Columbus Drive in the Loop, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)
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