Let’s shamrock and roll
Cork city will be awash in a sea of green this Sunday with more than 50,000 people expected to fill its streets for the St Patrick’s Day parade.
The parade kicks off from the top of South Mall at 1pm and will feature more than 3,000 participants representing both local and international groups.
It will follow a familiar route down the South Mall, along the Grand Parade, up Patrick’s Street, and across Merchant’s Quay.
This year features some unmissable highlights including a series of huge and colourful installations from the Cork Puppetry Company.
Onlookers will also want to keep an eye out for Leeside youth disability sports club the Rebel Wheelers who will bring to life imaginative creatures and a tribe of warriors living in a post-apocalyptic world inspired by Mad Max.
As well as local groups, Cork is honoured to host some international guests again this year at the St Patrick’s Day parade. These include the La Cañada, Marching Band from California; the Cologne Cork Twinning Association from Cologne, Germany; and special mention must go to the Knights of Columbus Pipes and Drums band who, for the third time, will be performing in the New York parade on Saturday before taking an overnight flight to march in Cork on Sunday.
Taking on the role of grand marshal for this year’s parade are iconic Leeside indie rockers The Frank and Walters who were recently named Cork Persons of the Year.
Speaking to the Cork Independent, the group’s drummer Ashley Keating said it was an unexpected honour to be asked to lead the parade, and one that ties in nicely with a song they wrote early in their career.
“The weird thing with St Patrick’s Day is that we have a song on our second album called ‘Tony Cochrane’ which would have been written back in 1993 or 94,” said Ashley.
“It’s all about being brought to the St Patrick’s Day Parade with your dad and watching the people marching and thinking, ‘God, I’d love to be them like, they must be so special, they’re the real heroes’. We actually namecheck the Barracks Street Band in the song, and we’re actually marching with the Barracks Street Band on Sunday, so it’s kind of an art imitating life kind of thing,” he added.
Heading up the mammoth task of organising the parade is Cork City Council’s Events Co-ordinator Marcela Whelan Kelly who has been making preparations since before Christmas.
Speaking to the Cork Independent, she said the St Patrick’s Festival, which starts tomorrow, Friday, plays an enormous role in promoting tourism in Cork as well as encouraging Corkonians to enjoy and celebrate their beautiful city.
“I think it has that dual purpose, that it’s a great showcase for Ireland in the spring time. There isn’t a showcase like St Patrick’s Festival in any other country in the world, I think,” said Ms Whelan Kelly.
She added: “It’s also very important for people at home to celebrate their own culture, their own city, their own communities. We have a multitude of community groups, some very well-known and some that are showcasing themselves for the first time.
“It’s the combination of international and local focus that makes it very special; communities of people who have made Cork their home and they’re always full of colour and interest as they bring cultures from other parts of the world into Cork and become part of us and that’s always great to see in the parade.”