Newport's St. Patrick's Day Parade Returns Saturday

NEWPORT, RI — Newport's annual St. Patrick’s Day parade will take place this Saturday.

The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. from Newport City Hall at 43 Broadway. Staging will begin at 9 a.m. The route will go down Broadway and into Washington Square, continue south onto Thames Street, and then onto America’s Cup Avenue. Then, the route will traverse back onto Thames Street and end on Carroll Avenue at St. Augustin’s Church.

Parking is prohibited from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the following streets: Broadway from Cranston Avenue to Washington Square at Thames Street; Equality Park Place and Equality Park West; the west side of Dr. Marcus F. Wheatland Boulevard; Lower Thames Street from America’s Cup Avenue to Morton Avenue; Carroll Avenue from Morton Avenue to Harrison Avenue; Narragansett Avenue between Spring Street and Bellevue Avenue and both sides of America’s Cup Avenue at the Gateway center.
Expect heavy traffic in the city and parking is limited. Public parking is available at the Gateway Center on America’s Cup Avenue and the Waterfront Lot on Mary Street.

Newport police will have uniformed and plainclothes officers along the parade routes and will be strictly enforcing laws regarding open containers of alcohol in public, underage drinking, disorderly conduct, and noise violations.

Police Chief Ryan Duffy will march in the parade and carry a traditional Irish shillelagh. Newporter John McPolland brought the shillelagh back from Dublin, Ireland in 1971 and donated it to the Newport Police Department. The shillelagh was a gift from the Dublin Police Department and has been carried by the Newport police chief during the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade since.

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