Trevians put on their green and headed downtown to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but the cold weather turned off many from going.

Students who attended the parade noticed the lack of revelers.

“Compared to past years that I’ve gone to the parade, there were significantly less people and it wasn’t as enjoyable,” senior Maggie Maher said.

Senior Jacob Wilson said,  “It was decently crowded but not uncomfortably so. Everyone was just enjoying themselves with friends, overall a pretty chill environment.”

While no estimates have beenreleased from the city yet, according to those present, the number pales in comparison to the estimated 5 million that came out for the Cubs parade.

“This parade was more calm and not as overwhelming as the cubs parade,” senior Anna Weeks said.

Weeks also shared that she thought twice about heading to the parade due to the weather, but  toughed out the cold and put on six layers.

For junior Libby Markham, the cold weather only played a small role in her decision not to attend the parade.

“I didn’t want to go because I feel like it’s just another excuse for kids to get drunk and take pictures to post so they look like they go to social events.”

According to students who attended the parade, teens from the Chicagoland area go to the parade  to drink with their friends.

Senior Colleen Yang said, “It gives people an excuse to drink in the middle of the day.” She shared it also gives people an opportunity to go to the city, see people you don’t normally hang out with, and take fun pictures.

There are other reasons people attend the parade than to drink, such as be surrounded by the positive energy and meet people, but Weeks and Maher agreed that it is mostly an excuse for people to drink.

“You could definitely pick out the groups of people looking to get drunk and the people there to see the parade. For the most part the two types of people stayed in different areas,” said Wilson.

Senior Emilie Petterson explained the appeal of the parade that draws so many Trevians downtown. “It appeals to people because it is popular and a big social event that lots of people don’t want to miss out on.”

Students who did not attend did not feel like the missed out on anything.

Markham said, “I don’t really feel like I missed out mostly because it didn’t sound very fun and it was too cold.”

Sophomore Zach Wilson agreed saying, “I had other plans with my friends so I didn’t feel like I was missing out at all.”

Some students left feeling disappointed about the day, that they did not see all the festivities Chicago had to offer.

“I would have enjoyed seeing the river dyed more than seeing the actual parade, but they dyed it so early that I missed it.” said Wilson.

This was Week’s first year at the parade, “I wanted to attend because I liked the Cubs parade, but there wasn’t as much energy as I expected. I also didn’t get to see the river dyeing, which was disappointing.”

Attending the parade as a child compared to as a teen are two wildly different experiences, but perhaps the first option is better, according to  Zach Wilson.

“I went with my family the first year I moved to the north shore and had a great time watching the dyeing of the river.” Compared to Trevians reviews of the 2017 parade, maybe attending with family and actually seeing the festivities is the better way to celebrate St. Patrick’s day.

Although many students enjoyed the parade and were not put off by the cold, if you were a student who chose to stay home, it seems you did not miss out on the biggest social event of the year.

“If I went I definitely would have had fun, but I did not have FOMO from not going and I enjoyed being lazy and staying warm on a Saturday morning instead,” said Markham.