It’s Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day, say members of the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Committee, who are hailing Friday October 21, 2022 five months before March 17, 2023. Acknowledging that the parade is a “wee bit passed,”  the committee welcome residents and visitors to join the second line-style parade. Starting in front of St. Louis Cathedral on the Decatur Street side, the parade will start at 12 p.m. and continue through the French Quarter, stopping at several establishments and ending at 4 p.m.

The Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Committee was organized in the Irish Channel in 1947, and its St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Irish Channel has been a strong (and fun) tradition in New Orleans since then. It’s a mini-Mardi Gras, with floats (riders throw cabbages, beads and trinkets), marching krewes and music.

Despite the years of decline and change in the “Channel,” the organization has survived and this year, plans to parade with the largest membership ever (fourteen hundred plus). The organization credits its survival to their deep, strong roots. While the top root is Irish Heritage, many of it’s members feel an even stronger bond, just being from or associated with, the Irish Channel. Most people are aware of the pre-parade mass, followed by the parade up Magazine Street with hundreds of men in formal attire.

Wristbands are sold for $20 which helps support the Irish Channel and various charities, including the Special Olympics, The Chefs’ Charity of St. Michael’s Special School and many others.

For more information: (504) 913-6233, [email protected]