March 17th, 2008 @ 4:34 pm
Green with Envy
Other cities dye-ing to know what turns Chicago river green - Online Exclusives
Dyeing the Chicago River Irish green has been a tradition for more than 40 years and at least 50 cities want to know how Chicago volunteers perform the miraculous transformation every year.Bill King, the administrator of Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day committee, said that because dyeing the river is considered such a unique way of celebrating the Irish holiday and because the river’s color happens to be so close to the greens of Ireland, many cities have contacted the St. Patrick’s Day committee seeking help with duplicating the famous act.
“One city called this week and said they saw the green river on television and asked how we dyed the river, and I said if I told them we wouldn’t be on television anymore,” King said.
picture link goes to Wikipedia.
Apparently it only takes a few minutes to dye the river, and the color is gone by the end of the day. It is such a brilliant green, it is just crazy that its non-toxic and still so vibrantly green. I would love to know how they do it.
Have a Guinness tonight, I know I am.
