On the March

56th Cincinnati St. Patrick’s Parade
Saturday, March 16, noon
https://www.cincystpatsparade.com

The parade begins on Mehring Way and concludes at The Banks, which is throwing a two-day street party to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

More about the parade at www.cincystpatsparade.com.

“The St. Patrick’s parade is special for Cincinnati because it marks the unofficial start of spring and our outdoor celebrations,” says Betsy Ross, the 2024 honorary grand marshal.

The parade begins at noon on Saturday, March 16, taking a route along Mehring Way that ends at The Banks. Throughout the weekend, The Banks will be holding a street party for St. Patrick’s Day.

The inaugural parade was held 1967, when members of the St. Patrick, Division #1, Ancient Order of Hibernians, discussed having a parade in St. Patrick’s honor. What started out as a small religious procession with members of the AOH and their families became a large parade. Over the years, the event has become a true parade with floats, pipers, step dancers, Irish families, marching bands, and more.

Since 2001, the parade has been held on the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day. Previous grand marshals include Chris O’Brien and Janeen Coyle, FC Cincinnati President Jeff Berding, and Bengals great Ken Anderson.

“I'm so honored to be the grand marshal! Following Kenny Anderson’s footsteps is a tall task!” says Ross.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Ross is an Emmy-award winning journalist and the founder of Game Day, a media and marketing agency in Cincinnati. She is also an adjunct professor at ND where she teaches Game Day Media.

As you can tell by the names of some of the previous grand marshals, you don’t have to be Irish to be honored.

“I always say I'm Hoosier by birth and Irish by education (Notre Dame),” Ross says. “And I was in Dublin last fall, so maybe that counts – a little!”