ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – This year is the 421st anniversary of the first historically documented St. Patrick procession in the world, which was held in St. Augustine in 1601. A year earlier, St. Augustine’s Irish vicar, Father Ricardo Artur led the first St. Patrick celebration in all of the Americas.
The St. Patrick Parade, produced by Romanza-St. Augustine, Inc., returns at 10 a.m. Saturday, starting at Francis Field and follows a three-mile route through historic downtown and culminates at the Celtic Music & Heritage Festival on Francis Field, 25 West Castillo Drive in St. Augustine.
The parade will include numerous live bands, floats, marching units, dancers, horses, carriages, tour trains, trolleys, and more.
The parade marches to huge crowds through downtown St. Augustine and will cause some street closures and traffic detours downtown, starting at 9:45 a.m.
The parade lasts approximately one hour. The 2022 Parade Grand Marshal will be The Sisters of St. Joseph representing the Miguel O’Reilly House which has been in the care and ownership of the Sisters since 1866.
The parade begins at Riberia Street and Orange Street and continues east on Orange Street, south on S. Castillo Drive/Avenida Menendez, west on Cathedral Place, north on Cordova Street, concluding at Francis Field.
To accommodate traffic during the parade:
- San Marco Ave. southbound traffic will turn west on W. Castillo Dr.
- King St. will be two way from Cordova St. to Avenida Menendez.
- Bridge of Lions westbound traffic will continue west on two-way King St.
- King St. eastbound traffic will continue east over Bridge of Lions.
Streets closed to all traffic include:
- Riberia St. between Orange St. and W. Castillo Dr.
- Orange St. east of Riberia St.
- S. Castillo Dr./Avenida Menendez north of Cathedral Pl.
- All of Cathedral Pl.
- Cordova St. between King St. and Orange St.
The city’s free Park & Ride Shuttle will start running at 8 a.m. on Saturday to accommodate those wishing to arrive downtown in time for the parade.
All shuttle services are available from three parking locations outside of the downtown area:
- 198 & 212 W. King St., located at the intersection of US1 and King Street
- St. Johns County Health Department, 200 San Sebastian View, and
- San Marco Lot, 301 San Marco Ave.
The drop-off/pick-up location is the Visitor Information Center (VIC), located at 10 S. Castillo Dr. The VIC offers full visitor amenities and is just steps from Francis Field, the city’s primary festival location.
For information about the parade, visit www.CelticParade.com.