The St. Patrick's Parade Day in Scranton or Parade Day is one of the largest

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

parades in the United States. It is held in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

every year on the Saturday of the weekend before St. Patrick's Day - even if St Patrick's day falls on a Saturday or Sunday. For Example, in 2013, St. Patrick's Day was on a Sunday, and the Parade was held on the Saturday of the previous weekend - March 9. The date of the parade is commonly referred to as "Parade Day". Festivities begin with a mass at 10:00 am at St Peter's Cathedral. The mass is followed by a 2-mile footrace of the parade route at 11:00, an hour later the parade begins. Each year, thousands of people line the streets of downtown Scranton on Parade Day to take part in one of the city's greatest traditions. The city has hosted a St. Patrick's Day Parade since early in its history, with the current iteration being held annually since 1862. The Parade is sponsored and organized by the St. Patrick's Day Parade Association of

Lackawanna County Lackawanna County (; unm, Lèkaohane) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania and had a population of 215,896 as of the 2020 census. Its county seat and largest city is Scranton. The count ...

. Attendance for the 2008 parade, which featured appearances by

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

, and

Andy Buckley Andrew P. Buckley Jr. (born February 13, 1965) is an American actor and financial analyst best known for his role as David Wallace on the NBC comedy series '' The Office'' from 2006 to 2013. Early life Buckley was born in Salem, Massachusett ...

of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

'', was estimated to be as high as 150,000 people. The parade usually involves about 12,000 participants, including bagpipers,

Irish stepdance Irish stepdance is a style of performance dance with its roots in traditional Irish dance. It is generally characterized by a stiff upper body and fast and precise movements of the feet. It can be performed solo or in groups. Aside from public ...

rs, high school bands, local organizations and other Irish groups. The 2020 parade was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. And 2021 was rescheduled to mid-September. Other cancellations were in 1917–18 & 1942–45.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patrick's Day Parade Scranton Irish-American culture in Pennsylvania Parades in the United States Tourist attractions in Scranton, Pennsylvania Recurring events established in 1961 Parade Scranton