THE Welsh castle which hosted the most recent series of I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here is just one of a number of new locations due to take part in the annual Global Greening initiative this month.
Launched in Australia in 2010 - when the iconic Sydney Opera House was illuminated in green on St Patrick’s Day – the event, overseen by Tourism Ireland, has become a staple of St Patrick’s Day celebrations across the world.
For 2021 a raft of new locations will join those that have been involved for years in going green on March 17.
They include Gwrych Castle in Wales, the filming location for the most recent I'm a Celebrity series; the largest fountain in the world, The Palm Fountain in Dubai; the tallest building in South America, the Torre Costanera in Chile and Bled Castle in Slovenia.
Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier in California; BC Place in Vancouver; the Sekenani Gate at the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya will also be taking part for the first time in 2021.
This year will also see the most northerly ‘greening’ in the world ever – when a postbox at the summit of Øretoppen Mountain in Norway, 350 kms above the Arctic Circle, is illuminated on March 17.
These new sites will join some ‘old favourites’, which have gone green in previous years – including the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Niagara Falls, Victoria Falls, the ‘Welcome’ sign in Las Vegas, the London Eye, the Sky Tower in Auckland, the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, the Cibeles Fountain in Madrid and many others.
A spokesperson for Tourism Ireland explained: “Global Greening aims to bring positivity to the 70+ million people around the world with links to the island of Ireland.”
They added: “At a time when Irish people overseas cannot travel home, Tourism Ireland wants 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 welcome them back, as soon as it is possible to do so.”
