I’m seeing green everywhere!
This Saturday, come on down for what some say is the biggest St. Patties Day Parade west of the Mississippi! The theme for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is ‘Celebrating 30 Years of Community Unity with Special Thanks to our Veterans and Military.’ The Parade & Festival are hosted by the Irish Congress of Southern California. The Grand Marshal of the parade will be Lt. John Finn, USN (Ret.), the oldest living Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. Other veterans and heroes of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf will also be honored.
Starting at approximately 11 a.m., the parade starts at Sixth and Juniper Streets near the Cabrillo Bridge in Balboa Park, and will continue north on Fifth Avenue to Upas, and then return south on Sixth Avenue. The expected 160 entries will include Police and Fire Department units, equestrians, five marching bands, three bagpipe contingents including the All-Star Marching Band from Dublin, dancing groups, roller skaters, the reigning Miss Colleen, San Diego’s current Smiling Irishman, and representatives from Ireland, as well as antique cars, clowns, and some furry revelers.
From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Festival will host a Celtic Village located at the corner of Sixth and Quince. House McFionn, a troupe of Renaissance re-enactors, will portray the daily Irish life and warfare (circa 1582) with fighting demonstrations, dance, song, crafts, and story-telling. Two beer gardens will open at 11 a.m. with the morning’s festivities, and entertainment will run on two different stages until 5:30 p.m.
The Patriot Zone of the Festival will host groups including the USO, Operation Homefront, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Operation Caregiver, and The Chosen Few. Veterans and members of the Irish community will have a place ‘in the Zone’ to gather and swap stories, and to explore services that are available to them.
The Kids Zone will entertain younger parade goers with games, rides, llamas, face-painting, and plenty of other activities. There will also be booths with Irish crafts and refreshment.
Festival entertainment includes the bagpipes and drums of the San Diego Firefighters Emerald Society; Brian Baynes, a frequent guest artist of the San Diego Symphony who has performed with many world-renowned names in Celtic music; recording artist Tony Cummins, whose pub acts are legendary; Brehon Law, an “in your face” Irish folk rock trio from Carlsbad; the Shamrockers, the city’s favorite Irish band with a “classic rock problem,” original Celtic-style music from San Diego-based Sheela-na-Gig; and Celtic vocal talents Heloise Love & Richard Gordon.
