A HOST OF international landmarks will join the Global Greening initiative for the first time next month.
The iconic Space Needle in Seattle, Chimo the Polar Bear statue in Ontario, the fountains in London’s Trafalgar Square and the San Mamés stadium in Bilbao – the home of Athletic Club Bilbao – will go green for St Patrick’s Day for the first time.
They will be joined for the first time since 2014 by the Sydney Opera House.
Tourism Ireland today announced details of some of the famous attractions and sites around the world which will go green to mark St Patrick’s Day this year, continuing the organisation’s first-half promotional drive to grow overseas tourism in 2018.
Other new sites and buildings for 2018 include: the Wawa Goose monument in Ontario and the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat (also in Ontario), the National Football Museum in Manchester, the Palais de l’Europe (the seat of the Council of Europe) in Strasbourg, Beaugrenelle shopping centre in Paris, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Königsbau building in Stuttgart, Uilenburgersjoel Amsterdam, the Yokohama Marine Tower in Japan, Pen Monument in Hanoi, the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, as well as Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square) in Tallinn.
These new sites will join some old favourites which have gone green in previous years – including the Colosseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica and the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland in Paris.
Chicago will be going all out to celebrate St Patrick and Ireland once again this year, dyeing its river and having a number of buildings and sites across the city lighting up green including Navy Pier, the John Hancock Center, the Wrigley Building, the Civic Opera House and Soldier Field.
Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin TD, said:
“I commend all the staff in our Embassies and Missions overseas, in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and in Tourism Ireland for the outstanding work they have done in organising this campaign across the globe, which will no doubt further enhance Ireland’s profile abroad as a holiday destination of choice.”
A total of 35 countries will be visited as part of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations this year. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will travel to the US where he will visit US Donald Trump at the White House.
It is expected that he will visit other States in the US, with a focus on promoting trade and culture. Tánaiste and Minister Simon Coveney is to lead a large delegation to China and Hong Kong for St Patrick’s Day.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say