From the streets of Las Vegas to the sands of the Arabian Desert, landmarks around the world have lit up in green hues to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
This year has seen a record 690 sites in 66 different countries join Tourism Ireland’s global greening initiative.
Landmarks to light up this year include the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, the ‘Welcome’ sign in Las Vegas and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.
In the largest global greening since its incarnation, natural landscapes – including Niagara Falls on the border between the United States and Canada, and Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe – have also gone green.
The line-up marks a major increase in sites since 2010, when just the Sydney Opera House and the Sky Tower in Auckland lit up to mark the Irish holiday.
More unusual participants this year include the “tilted” or “drunken sauna” in Finland — an abandoned sauna tilted on its side on Tampaja Lake in the south of the country.
Finnish saunas are a theme, with others including the Jääsauna 52 in Tampere, whose 50-centimetre thick walls are made from the frozen water of local lakes and never melt, and a sauna cabin in the SkyWheel Helsinki where people can view city sights.
Other quirky greenings include the Bjarke Cirkelsten in Denmark, which is a giant troll sculpture made from recycled wood, and a huge Smurf statue in central Brussels.
The Equator sign and line in Kayabwe, Uganda will also go green, as will a solar power-generating structure in the shape of a giraffe that provides power for the community of Mangunze in Mozambique.
Niall Gibbons, chief of Tourism Ireland, said the intiative aimed to bring “positivity and hope” to the Irish Diaspora.
“More than 70 million people around the world claim links to Ireland and St Patrick’s Day is a truly unique opportunity to reconnect them with their heritage,” he said.
“At a time when Irish people overseas cannot travel home, we want to shine a green light in as many locations around the world as possible, giving our Diaspora a sense of connection with home and reminding them that we cannot wait to roll out the green carpet and welcome them back, as soon as it is possible to do so.”
Other new additions to go green this year include the Oculus transit hub near the World Trade Centre in New York; the tallest building in South America, the Torre Costanera in Chile; Bled Castle in Slovenia; Cairo Tower in Egypt; Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier in California; and the Fisherman's Bastion in Budapest.
