Newport Gearing Up for 60th St. Patrick's Day Parade Saturday

NEWPORT, RI—The City-by-the-Sea is gearing up for its annual St. Patrick's Day Parade and related festivities on Saturday that brings thousands of revelers to celebrate Irish heritage.

The Newport Police Department is reminding Newporters and visitors to expect congestion and delays downtown on Saturday before the parade steps off at 11 a.m.

Parade prep actually begins much earlier at around 9 a.m. when staging on Broadway begins for the parade, "so it is recommended that people coming to Newport to view the parade avoid Broadway," said Newport Police Sgt. Corey Huck in a news release.

Parking will be restricted from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the following streets:

• Broadway from Cranston/Equality Park West to Washington Square
• Equality Park Place and Equality Park West
• Dr. Marcus F. Wheatland Boulevard (West side)
• Bull Street at Spring Street
• Spring Street At Bull Street
• Washington Square from Broadway to Thames Street
• Thames Street from America’s Cup Avenue to Morton Avenue
• Carroll Avenue from Morton Avenue to Harrison Avenue
• Both sides of America’s Cup at the Gateway Center
• Narragansett Ave between Spring St and Bellevue Avenue

Respecting the parking restrictions is sage advice; cars parked along the parade route will be towed without hesitation.

Newport officers will be out observing the crowd and will enforce ordinance violations, including open containers of alcohol in public and noise violations, among others, police said.

"The Police Department will have a strong presence to make this a fun, safe and family friendly event," police said.

The parade, held rain or shine every year in Newport, lasts about two hours and includes pipe and marching bands, drum corps, clowns, reenactment units and representation from an extraordinary cross section of local organizations, nonprofits and civic groups.

This year, the parade will be led by Grand Marshals William "Bill" and Karen Cardinal, who run IHOP restaurants in Middletown and in North Dartmouth, MA.

This year's St. Patrick's Day Parade button features a bright-red Cardinal clutching a clover in its beak, the parade date and 60th annual proclamation framed in a blue ring to symbolize the blue color of the IHOP brand.

"The green, white, and orange represents the National flag of Ireland and their Irish roots. The cardinal, well you can guess. It is a play on words representing their surname – Cardinal," the parade's official website explains. "The shamrock that the cardinal carries in its beak represents the Holy Trinity and the many hours both of the Cardinals spend at their Parish Church (Saint Barnabas) and in supporting catholic education on the Island."

This year, the parade is dedicated in the memory of Patrick C. Loftus, who left this world too soon in 2014 at the age of 30.

The 2016 edition of the parade should be met with pleasant weather, which wasn't the case last year. That parade came after months of brutal winter weather and the city had to work overtime to clear snow along the parade route so it could happen.

There was also some debate after Mayor Jeanne Marie Napolitano suggested that bar owners should wait to serve alcohol a bit later in the day in an effort to curb disorderly behavior.