Green-tastic day at Montreal’s 199th St. Patrick’s Day parade
Posted March 17, 2024 1:40 pm.
Last Updated March 17, 2024 7:57 pm.
Dancing, music and smiles were seen at Montreal’s 199th Saint Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday.
Despite the wet weather, nothing seemed to rain on this parade — the green-tastic energy felt at every “clover.”
“You come out, you celebrate,” said Lauren Tracey of the United Irish Societies of Montreal. “Everyone’s Irish for the day.”
“You wear green and you have fun.”
“We love that we’re hosting an event that brings out everybody,” added Tracey. “There’s so many community groups, cultural groups, doesn’t matter your age.”
Rather than the usual route on Sainte-Catherine street, this year the thousands of parade participants, which includes about 20 floats, and many Montrealers, flocked de Maisonneuve Boulevard.
“I’ve always wanted to do the Montreal parade,” said Caleb O’flaherty, performing in the parade with the Costello Irish Dance school. “I’ve seen and heard amazing things about this parade.”
Also amazing: students from the Costello Irish Dance school who shine in the parade every year. Next week, four of their dancers are hoping to bring the luck of the Irish when they compete at the World Irish Dance Championships in Scotland.
“Irish Dance comes from Ireland,” said Casey Costello, founder and owner of Costello Irish Dance. “Really the focus is on the feet and the legs.
“We keep our upper bodies quite steady,” he added. “Our arms are by our side and the main focus is how fast the feet move.”
“I’ve done this parade a couple times,” added Kaelyn Keefe from the Irish dance group. “It’s always been super fun.”
“I’m happy to be here because this is my first St. Patrick’s Day Montreal parade,” said fellow dancer, Patrick Maliba.
“The Montreal Parade is just so well organized,” said Costello. “So well attended.”
“It’s a great, great event.”
“I’m doing this for my grandfather, his brothers that have been doing it for more than 60 years,” said one Montrealer walking in the parade. “It’s just a blessing for me here to be doing the parade for the 10th year in a row now.”
“I’m very happy,” added parade-goer Ilya Naumkin. “Everyone is smiling, everyone’s so happy.”
“I’ve never missed a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Montreal,” added another parade-goer. “I’ll be 79 and I came to this country when I was six years old.”
Next year will mark the 200th parade, and organizers expect it to be bigger and better than ever.
“This is the second year now since COVID and it took that last year to kind of like bring it back up to kind of the size that it was pre-pandemic,” explained Tracey. “We’re happy to say that that’s happened and we’re excited.”
