'Halfway To St. Patrick’s Day Parade' Coming To Bayside Saturday

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — While this upcoming Saturday might just feel like another weekend day, it actually marks the halfway date to Saint Patrick's Day — a holiday that Baysiders are celebrating with the first-ever Halfway to Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.

In January, the Bayside St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee cancelled its March parade for the second year in a row amid the pandemic. Six months later, however, parade organizers announced their plan to hold the event in September.

Although it's unconventional to celebrate the March holiday in the fall, this will be the first time since 2019 when the parade has marched down Bell Boulevard, which has locals excited according to Francis McLoughlin, the parade's president.

"There's a lot of support for having the march in September. The businesses are very happy about it too," McLoughlin told the Irish Voice in June.

At the time the group was still waiting for official permits, but those have since come in, and the event is slated to kick off at 11:00 a.m. from Bell Boulevard and 35 Avenue.

The parade, led by a group of honorees, will march down the boulevard to 43 Avenue in celebration of Irish Culture, an event flyer reads.

And, Bayside is not the only community that's planning to hold an inaugural Halfway to Saint Patrick’s Day parade.

The 44th annual Mid-Hudson St. Patrick's Day Parade in Greenwood Lake, New York is slated for Sunday, September 19, and other groups in Maryland and Pennsylvania are also planning to have parades this September.