The City of Delray Beach’s Annual Saint Patrick’s Day Festival and Parade is spread out over two days on the weekend preceding the “holiday”. On Friday, March 11th, the festival begins at Old School Square at 5pm with a concert by the Fire Brigade Rock Band from 6 till 10pm with a break for the Emergency Services Bagpipe Band at 8pm. On Saturday morning, festivities continue beginning at 11am with the parade running down Atlantic Avenue 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm and live music continuing at Old School Square till 7pm.
Parade
The parade is scheduled to begin at Noon on March 11th. The highest concentration of parade spectators will be downtown in the area of the railroad tracks between East 2nd and 3rd Aves. It is recommended that you stay away from this area and set yourself up for viewing the parade between Swinton Ave. and West 5th Ave. on Atlantic Ave. This year, the parade has been extended 5 blocks West of Swinton Ave. to West 5th Ave. According to the event organizers, this location is a prime spot to set up and watch the parade.
Entertainment Schedule
Friday – March 10, 2017 (5:00 pm to 10:00 pm)
- 6:00 pm-8:00pm Irish Band/BagPipes – (Exact names and schedule to be announced)
- 8:30 pm – 10:00 pm Stall-4 80’s Rock Cover Band — Main Stage
Saturday – March 11, 2017 (11:00 am to 7:00 pm)
- 11:00 am – Irish DJ music
- 11:15 am – Irish dancers on stage (Festival Stage)
- 12 noon – PARADE
- 1:30 pm – Tatoo (on the Great Lawn)
- 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Gaelic Brew from Cork Ireland (Festival Stage)
- 4:00 pm – Irish DJ
- 5:00 pm – School of Rock (Festival Stage)
A Little Bit of History
In 2010 the parade theme changed to pay tribute to the International Emergency Services community (Firefighters, Police, Paramedics).
The parade is a 501c3 non-profit organization providing exciting entertainment for the entire parade weekend. This year, the parade has partnered with Honor Flight, with more than 60 WWII Veterans leading the parade on Saturday afternoon.
From Miami up to Martin County, twelve fire department ladder trucks from twelve different Florida municipalities represent their communities by pairing up in two’s and hanging six flags across the parade street for all to pass under that creates a magnificent civic work of art. To date the parade has been host to uniformed personnel from many countries including Canada, Ireland, Belgium, Australia, and across the continental United States.
More Details
The 2-day festival also includes a Fun Run, Charity and more. Visit the event website for all the details.
More information available at: http://stpatrickparade.com/ and Facebook page: www.facebook.com/stpatrickmarch
Photo credit: Georgia Handy
