The parade is an integral part of St. Patrick’s Day in Boston, which personal-finance website WalletHub says is the best city to celebrate the occasion. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
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Boston has celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a parade through the streets of South Boston for more than 300 years, and up to 1 million people, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority says, are expected to attend the parade this year. With such popular support, it may not be surprising that a new report names Boston as the best American city to be in to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
The report by personal-finance company WalletHub compared the 200 largest U.S. cities by 15 metrics, including Irish pubs and restaurants per capita, the lowest prices for a three-star hotel on St. Patrick’s Day and the expected weather.
“Boston is the best city for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, and it’s known for its iconic parade, which has been around since 1724,” says WalletHub writer and analyst Chip Lupo. “Over 13% of the city’s residents have Irish roots, and Boston has the sixth-most Irish pubs and sixth-most Irish restaurants per capita.”
The parade will be held on March 16, a day before St. Patrick’s Day, beginning at 11:30 a.m at Broadway station. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority posts a St. Patrick’s Day guide and a map of the day’s parade route on its website.
“Due to street closures and parking bans in the neighborhood, driving to the parade is not recommended,” the authority says. “Please plan ahead for your trip — you may need to wait longer than usual to get on a train.”
If you are not a local resident or don’t plan a trip to Boston, there are numerous other cities with top-flight St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, the WalletHub report says.
The second-best city is Reno, Nevada, and Savannah, Georgia ranks No. 3. Rounding out the top 10 in WalletHub’s report are No. 4 Santa Rosa, California, followed consecutively by Worcester, Massachusetts; Chicago; New York; Henderson, Nevada; Buffalo, New York, and Pittsburgh.
“The best cities for St. Patrick’s Day combine rich traditions with tasty and affordable food, safe conditions to celebrate and good weather,” Lupo says. “Celebrating in one of these cities will increase your chances of having a memorable holiday, as long as you don’t overdo it.”
The report also uncovered some unique findings:
*New York has the most Irish pubs per capita — nearly 35 times more than San Jose, California, the city with the lowest number. New York also has one of the lowest rates of DUI-related fatalities — 32 times less than in Salem, Oregon, the city with the highest rate.
*Naperville, Illinois has the highest share of Irish population — 48 times greater than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the lowest share. Naperville also has the lowest violent-crime rate — nearly 57 times lower than Oakland, California, the city with the highest rate.
*Milwaukee, Wisconsin has the lowest average beer price — 1 1/2 times less expensive than in Anchorage, Alaska, the city with the highest average price.
Tampa, Florida, turns the river waters green for its St. Patrick’s Day celebration, which is held on the Saturday before March 17. Tampa Downtown Partnership
Tampa, Florida, which ranks No. 21 in the report, holds its St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Saturday, March 15, and colors its river waters green.
A Saturday celebration allows more people to enjoy the festivities without worrying about work the next day, says Caroline Keesler, a Tampa Downtown Partnership marketing and communications official.
About 20,000 people attended Tampa’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration last year, and more are expected this year, Keesler says.
The festivities will include artist Trisha Sham, who will paint throughout the event, and a five-piece Celtic band called the Irish Buskers. The headline musical act is George Pennington & the Odyssey, a local band that fuses rock, blues, funk and jazz into its performance.
BOSTON (WHDH) – Police are investigating a shooting in Downtown Crossing that occurred Thursday night.
Officials said the shooting occurred around 10:30 p.m. near Tremont and Temple Streets.
When officers arrived on scene, they found a man with a gunshot wound; he is expected to survive.
Police have not said if any arrests have been made.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Local News
An East Boston father is suing ICE, alleging immigration agents unlawfully stopped, arrested, and detained him because of his race and national origin despite having his legal status, his lawyers said.
Lawyers for Civil Rights filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Jose Pineda, a 62-year-old Salvadoran immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for more than three decades and is authorized to remain and work through humanitarian relief, the nonprofit legal organization said in a press release.
The suit is seeking damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, and severe emotional distress.
“I came to the United States to escape the civil war that devastated El Salvador. I worked hard, started a family, and built a life here,” said Pineda, who works as a landscaper and lives with his wife and 13-year-old daughter. “I never expected to feel that kind of fear again, much less in the United States.”
According to the 30-page complaint, written by LCR senior attorneys Victoria Miranda and Mirian Albert, Pineda has been a recipient of Temporary Protected Status, which allows certain foreign nationals from designated countries to live and work legally in the U.S.
Pineda also had a pending asylum petition and had been granted a T visa, which provides immigration protections to trafficking victims, the complaint states.
“We will not stand idly by as ICE wreaks havoc on immigrant families. Through racial profiling, ICE agents are carrying out an unquestionably discriminatory agenda,” Miranda said in the release. “The law exists to protect people like Mr. Pineda, and it must be enforced against ICE.”
The lawsuit stems from a May 2025 encounter in Weymouth, where Pineda was driving a landscaping truck to a job site when agents in unmarked ICE vehicles surrounded him, according to the complaint.
“The aggressive nature of the questioning made it clear to Mr. Pineda that he was not being judged based on any evidence of unlawful conduct, but rather on his identity, race, ethnicity, and/or national origin,” Pineda’s attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit alleges ICE officers then “forcibly” handcuffed and shackled Pineda before taking him to the agency’s field office in Burlington.
Officers searched Pineda’s belongings during the stop and again at the field office, allegedly confiscating $600 in cash that he intended to use to pay his family’s rent. The money has not been returned, according to the complaint.
Pineda spent two days in ICE custody under what the lawsuit describes as “cruel and inhumane conditions.”
“After what ICE did to me, and after everything my family has endured, I don’t know if I will ever truly feel safe again,” Pineda said.
According to the complaint, he was held in severely overcrowded cells containing more than 40 people — at times as many as 60 — leaving little room to sit and forcing him to remain standing for much of his detention. Detainees also allegedly shared a single toilet and sink without soap or toilet paper and were not provided toothbrushes, clean clothes, or showers.
Fluorescent lights remained on around the clock, making it difficult to sleep, while temperatures became “extremely cold” overnight and some detainees received only aluminum blanekts for warmth, the complaint states.
Pineda was given only a two-minute phone call during his detention and received two bottles of water each day, along with “inadequate and limited” food and water, according to the complaint.
“Mr. Pineda has suffered devastating and ongoing physical and emotional harm that has impacted all aspects of his life,” his attorneys wrote. “Mr. Pineda brings this action to seek accountability for these violent and traumatizing tortious acts of the ICE officers and to address the harms inflicted upon him.”
According to LCR, Pineda was released following advocacy by Centro Presente, a Massachusetts immigrant rights organization.
After his release, ICE initiated removal proceedings against him depsite his humanitarian protections, the organization said. Those proceedings were ultimately dismissed.
“ICE targeted Mr. Pineda based on nothing more than his perceived national origin and the nature of his work,” Albert said in the press release. “Our laws prohibit this kind of arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Through this lawsuit, we seek to hold the federal government accountable for the violence and harm inflicted on Mr. Pineda.”
ICE referred questions about the lawsuit to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
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BOSTON (WHDH) – A pedestrian was hit and killed in Roxbury Thursday morning.
The collision occurred just before 8:20 a.m. on Tremont Street.
Police said Tremont Street was closed in both directions between Brigham Circle and Roxbury Crossing.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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