For many people, St. Patrick’s Day is just another day of the year. However, for Erica Backus, director of public relations for the city of Savannah, it’s quite the occasion.

If it falls on a weekday, schools shut down, businesses close and people take to the streets to celebrate. This year, a few students from N.C. State will be making the trek to partake in the festivities, and they’re expecting a grand party.

Amy Huffman, a junior in communication, will be a first-timer to the Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day party this year. She said she was surprised that she didn’t hear about it before this year.

“I heard about it from my boyfriend’s brother and sister-in-law,” Huffman said. “They said there is green beer, good music and partying in the streets.” According to Jay Burke, the general chair for Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, held on Saturday this year, is the second-largest in the country, rivaled only by Chicago.

“Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been held for 183 years,” Burke said. “There are 500,000 to 750,000 visitors expected to attend this year alone.”

With 750 volunteers in the parade committee, Burke said St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are a work in progress year round. However, according to Backus, this is just one of the many events to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Celebrations fill the city’s streets for days before hand. “There are 13,000 hotel rooms in Chatham County, and they start filling up months in advance,” Backus said. “At this point, every hotel room in the city is booked.”

Members of NCSU’s rugby team will also be in Savannah for the holiday, according to the team’s secretary, Matt Garcia. They will participate in a St. Patrick’s Day tournament. Game days are March 16 and 18, but on St. Patrick’s Day the players will get to enjoy the festivities, like the hundreds of thousands of other people in Savannah. “All the veteran players and coaches that have been down there before told me I’m in for a treat,” Garcia said. “I haven’t heard a sane or normal story yet.”

In addition to the parade, the Forsyth Park fountain, which is the largest fountain in the city, is ceremoniously dyed green, along with every other fountain in the city, Backus said. There is a breakfast held downtown where “green grits are a must,” and many local Roman Catholics participate in a special pre-Mass ritual.

“For many people it is also tradition to head over to Pinky Masters Bar at 7 a.m. for a Bloody Mary, before heading to St. Patrick’s Day Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist,” Backus said.

Also, because the city of Savannah permits open containers of alcohol on the streets, Backus said there are beer stands along Savannah’s waterfront for the weekend. She said the crowd is fairly responsible.

“Considering the amount of people we have coming in, the crowds are very well-behaved,” Backus said. “There are very few arrests, and those few are usually for public intoxication.”

While revelers prepare to experience Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day, people like Backus, Burke and the rest of the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee are busy preparing for their arrival. According to Burke, they do all they can to make Savannah friendly and hospitable.

“Everyone should feel welcome here,” he said.