St. Patrick’s Day
“It’s just what you do in Dallas for St. Patrick’s Day.”
Witnessing the Greenville Avenue St. Patrick’s Parade puts you in a quasi fraternity of sorts. It’s a little like going to Mardi Gras and then again not so much. This occasion is truly unique. The parade has become thesignature event of the St. Patrick’s celebration for our fair city. Many Dallasites have attended and bared witness to the evolution of this neighborhood parade from about ten pickup trucks and a couple of flatbeds to the largest St. Patrick’s parade in the Southwest.
It all began in 1979 and was really nothing more than just a few vehicles, more than a few cold ones and a dream. There was a quick trip down the street, sometimes amidst traffic, a few honks and waves and then back to the bar. The parade actually began on lower Greenville Ave. and was a nice little community event for those first few years. Word got around about this little neighborhood spectacle and attendance began to grow. So much in fact that the residents in the adjacent neighborhoods felt that they were too close to thetraditional St. Patrick’s Day revelry and they overwhelmingly spoke out to their area council person. And in 1987 the Dallas City Council cancelled the event entirely.