St. Patrick's Day

Dallas Prepares for 40th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade

One day a year, Dallas turns green as it hosts the 4th largest St. Patrick's Day celebration in the country.

"I mean, our Irish population is like, what, 3-percent? But it seems like everybody on St. Patrick's Day is all Irish, so green goes from 3 percent to 100 percent," said parade Executive Producer Mauricio Navarro. "Here we're all one color, green, and that's the only one we see. We don't see race, we don't see income, we don't see age. All we see is a sea of green having a great time."

More than 90 floats will go down the 2-mile parade route. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings will be the Grand Marshal. Security will be tight.

"There's plain clothes officers, there's tactical, there's SWAT," said Navarro. "There's a lot of security that you might not see."

Near lower Greenville, 'no parking' signs are posted along residential streets around a block party location that will close Greenville Avenue to car traffic.

Kyle Thomas lives walking distance from the parade and block party. He said he looks forward to St. Patrick's Day every year. He's not Irish. "Tomorrow I am," Thomas said showing off his new green clover suit. "This is my first year to have it."

For the first time, a St. Patrick's Day Concert will be held near the corner of Greenville and Mockingbird, starting at 12:30, after the parade passes by.

Some Lower Greenville neighbors near the block party have been annoyed in the past when the celebration spilled into their yards and illegally parked cars blocked traffic.

Andrew Schmeltz, a neighbor of the concert location further north, said he and his family are looking forward to the new event.

"I think it will be fine. I think it will be fun. There’s a nice fence up, so it will keep a lot of the trash from blowing out and cluttering the street," he said. "We have kids. There are a lot of kids in the neighborhood. We’re going to bring them down and let them listen to it. We’ll walk by and see the parade."

A "Dash Down Greenville" 5k run starts at 8am for people who choose to use their feet to travel the parade route, before the floats arrive at 11am.

"We have other events that come in," Navarro said. "You’re either burnt orange or your red. This one we’re all one color. We’re all green."

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