Montreal’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is on this weekend

Montreal is readying its 201st Saint Patrick’s parade Sunday, featuring a kids-focused theme, new route, and security measures.

Get ready to go green for Montreal’s St. Patrick’s Day parade this Sunday, March 22.

The three-hour parade - Montreal’s 201st edition - promises hundreds of floats, marching bands, performers and more to celebrate the city’s Irish community.

“This year, we have a theme of ‘Little shamrocks, big dreams.’ So it’s all about the kids,” said Devin St. James, the parade’s director.

Except for a brief hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Montreal boasts one of the oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the world.

It is set to start at 12 p.m. at the corner of Fort and de Maisonneuve streets, ending at Jeanne-Mance Street.

The City of Montreal held a news conference on Monday morning to announce the parade and thank the United Irish Societies of Montreal, as well as its organizing committee and volunteers, for hosting the event.

“It is with great pride that we invite all Montrealers to turn out in large numbers for the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. The Irish heritage is strong in Montreal, and the St. Patrick’s Day parade is a wonderful opportunity to come together and remember our shared history,” said Leslie Roberts, the City of Montreal Executive Committee member responsible for universities and higher education, downtown, and the Anglophone community.

Chairman of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada board of governors, Gary McKeown, is expected to serve as Grand Marshal.

He also played an important role in bringing an annual St. Patrick’s Parade to the Town of Hudson in 2010 with his cohorts, leaning on the expertise of the United Irish Societies of Montreal.

This year’s Parade Queen is 22-year-old Sarah Crotty, a microbiology and immunology student at Université de Montréal.

She is also the captain of the Montreal Shamrocks Camogie team and volunteers with the Myra’s Kids Foundation.

Security will be in place

Beyond the party, security remains a constant concern, though organizers would not disclose too many details about measures in place.

“Everybody’s working closely to make sure that it’s safe and it’s secure,” said St. James.

The temperature is expected to be around 0 degrees Celsius, and organizers hope revellers will come out in large numbers.

“It doesn’t really matter what happens because people still show up,” said Roberts.

- With files from CTV News Montreal’s Stephane Giroux