St Patrick’s Day brings boisterous parades and celebrations to New York
The New York parade dates to 1762 — 14 years before the US Declaration of Independence.
St Patrick’s Day, the annual celebration of all things Irish, is being marked in cities across the US on Monday with boisterous parades and celebrations.
New York City hosts one of the largest and oldest parades in the United States.
The rolling celebration, now in its 264th year, takes place along Manhattan’s famed Fifth Avenue.
Some 150,000 take part in the march and 2 million spectators attend each year, according to organisers.
Major celebrations are also planned on Monday in Savannah, Georgia, and other American communities, though some of the cities most transformed by Irish immigration held festivities over the weekend.
Chicago’s St Patrick’s Day celebration, which is punctuated by turning its namesake river bright green with dye, happened on Saturday. Boston and Philadelphia marked the occasion on Sunday.
The parades are meant to commemorate Ireland’s patron saint but have become a celebration of Irish heritage globally.
Festivities on March 17 were popularised by Irish immigrant communities, who in the 19th century faced discrimination and opposition in the US.
The New York parade dates to 1762 — 14 years before the US Declaration of Independence.
It steps off at 11am local time, heading north along Fifth Avenue and running from East 44th Street to East 79th Street in Manhattan.
A bevy of local politicians, from the mayor to the governor, is expected to walk the route along with school marching bands and traditional Irish pipe and drum ensembles and delegations from the New York Police Department and other organisations.
The grand marshal of this year’s parade in New York City is Michael Benn, the long-time chairman of the Queens County St Patrick’s Parade held in Rockaway Beach.
