Maybe your family can't wait until the Pegasus Parade in April. Fear not, paradegoers, Louisville's second largest (and possibly more fun) parade is this Saturday, March 9 at 3:00 pm: the 40th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in the Highlands.
At the same time on Saturday, the Louisville men's basketball team will be having a "red out" a few miles away at the YUM! Center as they battle the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (who slugged it out over 5 overtimes with UofL--and won--on February 9), but no one else in the city has a good excuse for not wearing green. Irish or not, everyone's Irish at the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
The parade starts at Broadway and Baxter and will continue down Bardstown Road to Mid-City Mall. Pick a section of sidewalk anywhere along this corridor, and your party will have a great view of the nearly 125 units marching down the street. Last year, up to 50,000 people watched or marched in the parade, so get there early. O'Shea's Irish Pub (the official sponsor), Molly Malone's, and Flanagan's Ale House--all in the 900 block of Baxter Ave.--naturally seem to attract the most colorful parade watchers, so plan accordingly.
This year's theme--"Forty Shades of Green"--may sound like an Irish take-off of the enormously popular "Fifty Shades of Grey" series of books. But fear not, the traditional Highlands parade is still family-friendly as always. Mark Wakefield, president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians remarks, "We are proud of our 40-year tradition in sponsoring the St. Patrick's Parade. We welcome all to join us in the fun start for spring as we honor St. Patrick and celebrate our Irish heritage that so many of us share."
So unless you're wearing red at the YUM! Center, you better have your green on in the Highlands.
Photos: courtesy of AOH/Louisvilleirish.com