The 18th Annual Mystic Irish Day Parade Is Coming Sunday March 19th!

At the St. Patrick’s Day parade, while the community plans for the parade, it is the parade that creates community. We want to thank all those in the parade that bring us all together! Today we are going to remind ourselves to celebrate The Community! The beloved neighborhood that loves and supports each other, cares for their local businesses, respects and nurtures their surrounding environment with land and water, celebrates their historic meaning, and nourishes their future generation raising their children, schools, and sports. Here is a look from the inside-out. The “inside” of how Mystic St. Patrick’s Day Parade brings together a community.

“Downtown” Mystic St. Patrick’s Day Parade is a celebration of coming together. Fitch graduates, Stonington graduates, generational families, and new homeowners come together in unity to embrace each other and the Irish Heritage.

There are Specific Steps to Organize a Parade. We will take a step back to briefly understand the magnitude of our Parade committee:

  1. Determine a Theme: Patrick’s Day- Irish Heritage
  2. Decide the Magnitude: History tells us the the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in Mystic Connecticut started with just a couple of friends coming together to celebrate their heritage and has lovingly grown with volunteers, marchers, and a close-knit community coming together. Last year the tradition officially became an EVENT with the honorable Grand Marshal leading almost 2,200 parade participants. From the littlest participants representing little leagues and girl scouts to our Veterans, pipe bands and political figures, marchers stood alongside creative floats, and dancers and this little village was lined with an a audience of over 40,000 supporters.
  3. Set a Time & Date: Sunday March 19, 2023 Kicking off at 1 p.m., the parade marches from the Mystic Seaport Museum to the Mystic Art Association.
  4. Establish a Parade Committee: VOLUNTEER DRIVEN– It would not be possible without the core members of the Mystic Irish Parade Foundation. They spent the year planning, setting budgets, obtaining permits, creating the marching sheet, organizing the timeline, setting up rules and guidelines, and seeking out sponsors. THANK YOU!  Thank you to the sponsors! – Mystic Irish Parade
  5. Seek out Parade Sponsors: Sponsors directly support the parade & the community makes it so FUN!
  6. Generate Excitement- This is our job right now! Now that we have learned the players of the parade, we’d like to MEET the COMMUNITY that makes up the Audience! Come on Mystic, share your photos, memories, and the meaning this parade brings to you. You are surrounded by family, friends, and neighbors… forget strangers, we are all friends on this day! Tell us have you SEENIT! To learn more about the Mystic Irish Parade please click here to visit their website. Cheers! 

Bank & Bridge Brewing will have their own porters, stouts, and red ale ready for parade day!

parade

Bank & Bridge Brewing is the front row seat. They are “selling” tables out front this year ($25 food & beverage minimum per person. A tent will also be setup out front with some select beer with a small Irish Menu.