Saint Patrick's Day have been cross-community St Patrick's Day parades in towns throughout Northern Ireland, which have attracted thousands of spectators. In the mid-1990s the government of the Republic of Ireland began a campaign to use St Patrick's Day to showcase Ireland and its culture. The government set up a group called St Patrick's Festival, with the aims: The first St Patrick's Festival was held on 17 March 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day event, and by 2000 it was a four-day event. By 2006, the festival was five days long; more than 675,000 people attended the 2009 parade. Overall 2009's five-day
Name day can be celebrated on more than one day and some have even started following foreign traditions (like Valentina being celebrated on the Catholic St. Valentine's Day). St. George's day (Гергьовден, celebrated on May 6) and St. John's day (Ивановден, celebrated on January 7) are two of the most popular name days in Bulgaria. Another example of a name day connected with Christianity is "Tsvetnitsa" (Цветница, Palm Sunday). On this day people with names derived from flowers, trees, herbs, etc., celebrate. Name days are frequently connected with some year or season features like "Dimitrovden" (Dimitar's day, Oct. 26) being the beginning