St. Patrick's Day is a state holiday in Massachusetts for those government workers who work in Suffolk County (i.e., the City of Boston.) It is officially Evacuation Day, and it commemorates the departure of the British from Boston during the Revolutionary War. I don't know how long state officials searched to find something to recognize on this date, but you can be sure they would find something to give government workers the day off for the parade and other appropriate activities. However you would like to designate it, Happy St. Patrick's Day!