Raleigh, N.C. — Thousands of people gathered in downtown Raleigh Saturday for the annual St. Patrick's Day parade and festival. Young and old, Irish and not, they enjoyed bands, food and fun. Slideshow     St. Patty's Day downtown Raleigh bar crawl

"It’s our culture and heritage," said Tanya Harrod proudly. Three generations ago, her family immigrated from Ireland.

"We were from the County of Antrim in Ireland, and that’s what we try to keep alive with the cooking and the culture in our children so they know where we came from. I think it’s important to keep ties to our home country, and also St. Patrick was a really good saint, so I think we need to keep that alive," she said.

Bill Miller took advantage of the celebration to wear his kilt, much to the dismay of daughter Gracie, age 5. "I only get to wear it a few times a year, and usually it’s in the house, so today it doesn’t look so out of place," he said.