It was easy being green in Toronto this past weekend as residents raided their storage units for their favorite leprechaun garb and attended the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade.
One Toronto local, formerly of Ireland, told the Toronto Star he’s been to the parade every year since arriving in the city in 2003.
“It’s excellent,” Paul Reynolds told the paper. “I like the way everyone embraces it. The Irish are in pockets all over the city. It’s nice to be able to see everyone together.”
Other attendants originally from Ireland said that while they’re becoming more familiar with the Greater Toronto area, the celebration made them happy but at the same time homesick.
Through Thursday, restaurants and bars across the city will offer Irish-inspired food, music and beverages.
While Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world, the paper reported last year that it’s become increasingly replete in Irishmen, since the 2008 global financial crisis, as more people came to the city seeking work. The paper reported that the number of temporary foreign workers from Ireland surged from 1,514 in 2004 to 2,604 in 2008.
