The biggest St Patrick’s Day parade the city has ever seen will take place on Sunday, with almost 2,700 people from 68 community groups taking part and a crowd of at least 40,000 expected to descend on the streets.

The festival will also feature one of the biggest schedule of events ever planned throughout the weekend, with music on four days and a family sports day planned for Salthill.

Leading the 2024 parade will be volunteers from the RNLI who are celebrating their 200th anniversary of saving lives at sea. Alongside them as guests of honour will be former Treasure Chest owner Mary Bennett, who recently retired after 58 years in business, many of them representing Galway globally through the international tourism networking organisation Skål.

Among those marching with the floats will be the Jersey City Fire Department and the Massachusetts State Police, with members linking up with their counterparts in Galway over the weekend. Other overseas visitors brewing up a storm for revellers will be the Swiss Carnival Band Escheschränzer Eschenbach and Yale University’s premiere folk singing group Tangled Up In Blue.

The theme of this year’s parade is ‘Olympics 2024, Dare to Believe’. And so far, the weather is predicted to be kind on Sunday, with viewers urged to arrive early, well before the 11.30am start, with marchers expected to complete the spectacle by 1.30pm.

The starting point is University of Galway, before winding over the Salmon Weir Bridge, to Eglinton Street and past the viewing stand at Eyre Square before concluding on Prospect Hill.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the March 15 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.