St. Patrick's Day Fountain Hills, Arizona

Each year on March 17, the Town of Fountain Hills turns it's World Famous Fountain a dazzling emerald green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. The tradition dates back to the early 1980's. This year, the fountain is turned green on the 16th and the 17th.

The founding date of Fountain Hills was December 15, 1970, the day the community's centerpiece fountain was turned on for the first time.

Built in 1970, this fountain was the creation of C.V. Wood, Jr., whom created the master plans for each of the community developments of McCulloch Properties, Inc., the original master developer of Fountain Hills.

The nozzle was built in Zurich, Switzerland, weighs nearly a ton and is more than seven feet in length.

The fountain operates every hour on the hour from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, drawing from a 33 acre, million gallon lake and reaching a height of 330 feet with only two pumps. On special occasions, the fountain can attain 560 feet with all three pumps running. In the event of winds exceeding 10 mph, the fountain will not operate.

On March 16th, the town of Fountain Hills celebrated St. Patrick's Day with their Irish Fountain Fest. The world famous fountain was transformed into a bright emerald green geyser at noon and then again at 4:00 p.m.

Michael chose the location to take the pictures of the fountain. I have to admit he was correct.

If you look closely, that is a double rainbow.

They added more color every so often.

Four Peaks and the moon are off in the distance.

I changed location and the rainbow disappeared.

From this location, we could feel the spray from the water.

The event featured a kid's zone, a Celtic rock band, food trucks, the Hensley Beer Garden and much more. The event was free of charge, too. Across the street from the park on the Avenue of the Fountains, the Fountain O"Green Artisan Market took place. There were about 100 exhibitors selling fine arts and crafts, specialty gift items, boutique clothing, jewelry and home decor, etc.

On March 17th, the fountain turns emerald green only at noon to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.