Just when you thought you’d recovered from Mardi Gras, guess what?!
It’s St. Patrick’s Day! Which means a parade (30 floats to be exact) through the Irish Channel, green roses, cabbage, and kisses. Lots and lots of kisses.
Ground Zero for the festivities is the block party on Magazine Street. If you don’t live near the Irish Channel, you should definitely Uber or Lyft there. You could take one of the Blue Bikes, put keep in mind for the return trip, you’re going to have to keep your balance…on a bike.
Parasol’s Bar and Tracey’s Original Irish Channel Bar are where the most people will be, so if you’re heading there, prepare for a crowd.
The parade starts at 1:30 p.m., but like most things here, time is relative. Sure the parade tracker will be on time, but the floats and marchers, well, not so much. Pack your patience.
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Hand sanitizer and toilet paper are definitely musts for your fanny pack, because aside from the kisses you might want to wipe off, bathrooms on the route are like finding the pot-of-gold. Be prepared to either hold it, or bring some cash to hit one of the bars and use the bathroom there. Pro tip: don’t use a bush. You’ll be in a pretty affluent neighborhood, and lots of residents have cameras. The last thing you want is for someone to post you on NextDoor showing your shamrock to the world.
When the parade does pass you by, you should have at least two bags handy. One for your throws, the other for the produce and food you’ll be catching. Potatoes, carrots and cabbage are some of the common fare, so you’l want a pretty strong bag to handle the groceries you just made. Even one of those bead bags for the parades will probably do, you just don’t want a regular plastic bag from the grocery, because it’ll definitely break.
If you want a break from the crowd, you can try Jackson Avenue and Magazine Street, or St. Charles Avenue. Don’t get us wrong, it’ll still be busy, but it won’t be AS packed.
It’ll be cool Saturday, so it might not feel like you need sunscreen Saturday, but you should still bring it. We might still be peeling from Mardi Gras, where it was definitely chilly.
Now get out there and show your Irish pride like a pro. Erin go bragh! ☘
