125,000+ expected for Dallas Mavs St. Patrick's Parade & Festival
DALLAS – More than 125,000 people are expected to make their way to Greenville Avenue for the Dallas Mavs St. Patrick's Parade & Festival on Saturday.
Preparations were underway Friday for what is the largest St. Patrick's parade in the Southwest.
Tents, along with fencing around homes down Greenville Avenue, were going up.
"It's just such a fun day," said Kevin Vela, chairman of the Greenville Avenue Area Business Association, which hosts the parade every year. "You're out here with your neighbors, your community, your friends, your family. There's truly nothing like it in the city."
While mother nature might have other plans, organizers are hoping the luck of the Irish will keep the rain away.
"Come out here, regardless," Vela said. "Rain or shine we will be out here."
The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. on Greenville Avenue at Blackwell Street. It will end at SMU Boulevard and Central Expressway. Organizers say the best way to get there is to take DART.
Lower Greenville will keep the party going post parade for their Block Party.
At Stan's Blue Note, they were hanging decorations and stocking up, ready to serve the festive crowd, and cash in on a busy weekend.
"It represents a huge deal," said Bob Myers, general manager of Stan's Blue Note on Greenville Avenue. "We get exposed to a vast amount of people who may have never seen Stan's."
Stan's expects to serve 3,000 St. Patty's partiers on Saturday.
"It represents two to three-and-a-half weeks of revenue you know for everybody in this area," Myers said.
And to keep the party from spilling over into the neighborhood, Stan's provides fencing for neighboring homeowners like Joshua Surgeon.
"Never any problems," Surgeon said. "Everyone pretty much behaves themselves and I always look forward to it."
"We coexist in this area, " Myers said. "We want to be a great neighbor to them."
