Twin Cities gear up for St. Patrick's Day festivities as snow storm approaches
Despite the potential for a winter storm, people across the Twin Cities are getting ready for St. Patrick's Day celebrations this weekend, and into next week.
According to the Saint Patrick's Association, St. Paul's first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in 1851, but the first "modern parade" was held in 1967.
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her visited the Downtown Improvement District's Safety Communications Center Friday morning to see how they're preparing for all the celebrations.
The district covers 90 blocks, and city leaders say they do a lot for trash pick-up and wellness checks.
"Last week we had the state hockey tournament here, and this week we have St. Patrick's Day, and we all know we really celebrate St. Patrick's Day not just on one day but, you know, the entire month," Her said. "There's going to be a lot of activities happening here, and we're just showing people that our downtown, our city, we are open for business, and that we are active and there's a lot going on here."
St. Paul's parade will be on Tuesday, but this weekend they will have added staff to make sure downtown celebrations are fun and safe.
Minneapolis will have its parade Saturday beginning at 1 p.m., running through downtown with 200 members of Annunciation Catholic Church's community serving as this year's grand marshals.
Colm Black, a deputy chief with the Minneapolis Fire Department, is one of the organizers. He says the parade is happening Saturday instead of St. Patrick's Day, which falls on Tuesday, so more people can enjoy the city on the weekend.
"We moved it to Saturday this year to try and bring more families in and get them to spend the afternoon in Minneapolis," Black said. "We have a party afterwards at the Basilica, and there's tons of bars around town that are throwing specials all day long."
For Minneapolis, this will be the 58th annual St. Patrick's Day parade and, as part of this celebration, they are also raising money for the American Diabetes Association.
