Drogheda St Patrick’s Day parade plans to be unveiled at official launch event

After basking in the sunshine over Ireland’s new bank holiday in celebration of Louth’s most revered lady, St. Brigid, the organisers of this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade are praying for something similar come March 17.

With preparations well on the way, entry forms out and consultations with Louth County Council and the local Gardaí Siochana completed, the Drogheda Festival Committee is delighted to announce that they will be holding an official launch for this year’s parade in The Barrel Venue, McHugh’s on the Chord Road on Thursday, February 16, at 8pm.

On what promises to be an exciting night, the committee will be unveiling this year’s Grand Marshal and it will also be an opportunity to reveal and thank the sponsors of the parade. It is the support of these local businesses and organisations that makes it possible to run a successful parade each year.

The committee would also like to thank Wogan’s Build Centre for their support over the last numbers of years.

In addition, Drogheda festival will be able to present on the night news of an exciting collaboration between their team, Drogheda Arts Centre and My Streets, Ireland, that has been facilitated by local community worker Rose Dunne with the support of Love Drogheda BIDS Team.

Present on the night will also be the Coca-Cola Perpetual Trophy which has been presented to the winners of best entry to the Drogheda parade for over 20 years. Their support over this time has been fundamental to the parade being such a treat for all who attend. Last year’s worthy winners were a fantastic entry by Drogheda Pride and LGBTQ.

Drogheda festival chairperson Sarah Taaffe is brimming with excitement when speaking about this year’s event.

“At the start we promised to make sure the parade got bigger and better every year and thanks to the support of our many sponsors and in particular the collaboration with The Arts and My Streets Ireland, I can definitely promise the children of Drogheda they will see some of the best handmade floats in the country in our town in March.”

Sarah encouraged people to come down to McHugh’s for an interesting night with music and also a stand for people to sign up as volunteers for this year’s parade. She explained that each year it takes a huge crew of volunteers to make the day special for everyone.

“I’m indebted to the grafters that have got involved to help prepare the streets,” she explains.” “For example, last year we had teams going out at 6am to put up barriers. To ensure we can make the parade better, we need more stewards to help while the parade is on so if anyone out there with a bit of community spirit who’d like to get involved please pop along to sign up or contact the group through Facebook.”