DENVER — Denverites are feeling lucky this weekend! With the snow mostly melted downtown, St. Patrick’s Day festivities got started without a hitch.
Thousands braved the early morning chill to watch the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday morning.
Local history says the first St. Patrick’s Day parade made its way through the streets to downtown Denver in 1889.
While the festivities have come and gone since then, this iteration of the St. Patrick’s Day parade has been going strong since 1962.
Even when the forecast called for the most snow Denver has seen in three years, parade organizers were adamant that the parade would go on.
Turns out, the luck of the Irish is real – it was a perfect bluebird day for paradegoers.
“You know, it's nice that the storm cleared and we can be out here to enjoy time together,” said Preston Burns, who drove from Silverthorne to watch the parade with his family.
The parade wove its way down Wynkoop, 17th, and Blake. Humans, dogs, and miniature ponies alike were all decked out in their brightest green.
Irish step dancers leaped and twirled. Bagpipe players put on a merry show. And of course, no St. Paddy’s Day parade would be complete without a few floats blaring Dropkick Murphy’s “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”. All the while, paradegoers steadily built up the amount of green beads around their necks.
Nearby businesses like Recess Beer Garden stood ready to welcome the first big crowd of the year after the parade was over.
“Winter is tough for any business, I feel like, in Denver. So this is just usually our big, one of our first big weekends,” said Catherine Tiner, director of marketing and social media for Recess Beer Garden. “It starts to give you a little you know, a little bit of hope you're starting to see through to the busy season.”
Beads, fun outfits, and a pint of beer may be St. Patrick’s Day parade staples.
But at the end of the day, it's all about this:
“Getting together with friends having a reason to come out and just enjoy time together.”
