On March 15, 2025, Chicago hosted its annual river dyeing to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, as well as various parades. The river dyeing is currently sixty-nine years old, though various parades have run since at least 1843.
Starting at 10 a.m., a fleet of boats float down the Chicago River along the Riverwalk area of downtown Chicago, spraying an eco-friendly dye. It’s honestly a bit hard to see the river changing color as it happens. While it’s fun to see the boats and you can see them spraying, it takes a bit to disperse enough to turn the river green. That said, it only stays vibrant for the first few hours after, so if you’re looking to see it while it’s bright, you should get there soon. (The included picture was taken around noon.)
The river dying was actually fine in terms of weather, albeit a bit overcast. It was somewhat less crowded than I’ve seen it previously – don’t get me wrong, it was still a very busy event, but there were thunderstorms in the forecast during the entire event. Even if it ended up being totally fine weather, I assume that this did discourage some from turning out.
I do have one major annoyance with how the event is run, especially compared to parades or other similar public events. I mentioned that the boats go down the Riverwalk. This is the best vantage point if you want to see the river dyeing, and maybe one of the few where you’re close enough to see the change clearly. You can watch from the street side or the bridges, but obviously a further distance makes it harder to see. The Riverwalk seats are fully monetized, with tickets being sold to get close to the event. Now, I do get that they might need to limit the number of people there in case of an emergency. But you could still have it be first come, first served, like how the closest people to a parade will largely be those who arrived earlier. There’s no need to sell tickets to it, and it just restricts most people from being able to get close.
I’m honestly not sure that the river dyeing is worth attending to see live. It takes a while for the change to become notable, and without being able to get close, it honestly can get a bit boring. That said, the parades are still a ton of fun, and I’d recommend swinging by to see the river while it’s still bright green. It’s a quirky but fun tradition that brightens the city for a few days a year.
