St. Patrick's Day Celebrations in Dallas-Fort Worth

Thousands attend parade and festivities in Dallas

North Texas Turned green this weekend, not with envy, but with the luck o’ the Irish!

Thousands of people attended the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dallas, with more than 100 floats riding south on Greenville Avenue from Blackwell Street to SMU Boulevard.

St. Patrick's Day Preps Begin In Dallas. 125,000 expected to attend attend parade and festivities this Saturday.

Any other day, Greenville Avenue is filled with cars, red lights, and honking horns. But once a year, Greenville is instead filled with people in a sea of green.

"It's insane. You've got people partying and having a good time, the folks coming to watch the parade... and everybody with their animals and kids," said Steve Lang, who's been coming to the parade for years.

The day starts with a 5k run, followed by the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, and finishes with a block party.

"We just love the parade, the atmosphere, and the people," said Crystal Miller.

Vendors started checking in Friday night, as parade organizers barricaded off areas to prepare for the festival.

"It's like controlled chaos," said Mauricio Navarro, executive producer of the parade. "I live for these kind of moments. The adrenaline kicks in, get about four hours sleep for about three nights, but I'd rather be here than anywhere."

This year's parade grand marshal is Dallas native Burton Gilliam, an actor best known for films like Paper Moon, Blazing Saddles and Back to the Future III.

Traffic signs were already flashing on Friday along Greenville, alerting drivers of upcoming delays. Parking will be nonexistent, so Uber has a designated lot at the Meadows Building off Greenville for people to hail rides.

In addition, Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail will have red, orange and blue lines running to take attendees back and forth to the parade. Festivities will last well into Saturday night.[[477068163,R,300,394]]

Performs like the dancers from The McTeggart Irish Dancers of North Texas are highlighting Irish arts and culture throughout the weekend.

The after-party on Lower Greenville Avenue is the biggest day of the year for some local businesses. 

"It's a huge day for us," said Mike McRae, owner of Stan's Blue Note. "It probably doubles what we do on Super Bowl, which is another huge day for us."

Stan's expects to sell three-weeks worth of liquor on Saturday alone.

As per usual, traffic will be a problem on St. Patrick's Day in Dallas. NBC 5's Samantha Davies tells you what to watch out for and how to avoid getting stuck. Additionally, DART is adding Red and Orange lines to help alleviate some of the strain.

Below are street closures, parking, and transportation details:

Northbound Greenville Avenue between University Boulevard and Caruth Haven Lane: two lanes closed from 6:30 to 10 a.m.

Eastbound Caruth Haven Lane between Greenville Avenue and Southwestern Boulevard: closed from 6:30 to 10 a.m.

Eastbound Southwestern Boulevard between Caruth Haven Lane and Skillman Street: closed from 6:30 to 10 a.m.

Organizers say mild weather on Saturday contributed to a large turn out at Dallas' St. Patrick's Parade.

Southbound Skillman Street between Southwestern Boulevard and East University Boulevard: closed from 6:30 to 10 a.m.

East University Boulevard between Skillman Street and Greenville Avenue: closed from 6:30 to 10 a.m.

Eastbound lanes of East University Boulevard, Lovers Lane and Caruth Haven Lane, between Central Expressway and Greenville Avenue: closed starting at 8 a.m.

Southbound Matilda Street between Milton Street to Sandhurst Lane: closed 8 a.m. to noon for employee parking

Goodwin Avenue between Worcola Street and Matilda Street: closed 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Vanderbilt Avenue between Worcola Street and Greenville Avenue: closed 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Greenville Avenue between Vanderbilt Avenue and Vickery Boulevard: closed 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Southbound Greenville Avenue between Park Lane and Mockingbird Lane: closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Northbound Greenville Avenue between Park Lane and Mockingbird Lane: closed starting at 10 a.m. and will reopen after parade ends.

From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., these streets are one-way westbound from Greenville Avenue to McMillan Avenue: Monticello Avenue, Ridgedale Avenue, Vanderbilt Avenue, Goodwin Avenue, Vickery Boulevard and Miller Avenue.

From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., these streets are one-way eastbound from Greenville Avenue to Matilda Street: Marquita Avenue, Vanderbilt Avenue, Llano Avenue and Velasco Avenue.

Uber is sponsoring the Dallas St. Patrick's Day Parade, where the official drop-off location will be at the Meadows Building at 5005 Greenville Ave. [[477068253,R,300,212]]

Lyft is sponsoring the St. Patrick's Day block party, where the official drop-off location will be the Mockingbird DART station at 5465 E. Mockingbird Lane.

Free shuttle service will take people from the DART station to the block party from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

DART will also add extra train service to its Red and Orange lines to meet demand Saturday. More details are here.

CLICK HERE for "Everything you need to know about Dallas St. Patrick's Parade on Greenville Avenue" from our media partners at GuideLive.com

Several other events are planned throughout North Texas for St. Patrick's Day:

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