While most St. Patrick’s Day celebrations nationally took place last weekend – considering the actual holiday was on Monday – Mississippi’s largest Irish get-together will convene on the streets of Jackson this upcoming weekend.
An estimated 70,000 people will gather in the capital city on Friday and Saturday for the Irish-flavored celebration. The festivities are highlighted by the “green Mardi Gras” procession, themed “Hey, Hey, the Blues is All Green!” this year, along with two other parades for kids and pets, and a blowout afterparty that will keep the shamrock shindig going into the night.
Parade weekend begins Friday with “The Stomp,” a New Orleans-style second-line march from Cathead Distillery to Hal & Mal’s. Food, drinks, and music will flow at both locations and the march in between to initiate the festive weekend.
The Family Festival kicks things off Saturday at 9 a.m. Rides, games, entertainment, food and drink, and other activities start the day on West Street.
The MARL Pet Parade, featuring the finest dressed furry friends in town, is the first parade and begins at 10 a.m. Hal’s St. Paddy’s Children’s Parade follows at 11 a.m., offering a chance for the little ones to command the emerald spotlight and compete for awards.
Then, it’s time for the big “shebang.”
Legendary bluesman and Mississippi native Jesse Robinson is this year’s Grand Marshal. The former frontman for B.B. King’s Blues Band will signal the start of the blues-themed procession at 1 p.m.
The parade will start on the corner of State Street and Court Street, with hundreds of revelers, floats, street dancers, and leprechaun-impersonators making up the eclectic and colorful march.
And don’t forget about the world-renowned Sweet Potato Queens making their annual appearance, led by “Boss Queen” Jill Conner Browne. An array of local marching bands will also play their way through the route as tunes, beads, and flowers rain down on the Jackson crowd.
While the parade will end Saturday afternoon, the party will be just getting started.
The gates open at Hal & Mal’s at 1 p.m. for the official afterparty, with live music starting at 3 p.m. Performers will include DJ 13lackbeard, Jackson’s own pop party band Pop Fiction, and crowd favorite 80’s cover band the Molly Ringwalds.
For more details on the festivities, visit the Hal’s St. Paddy’s Parade & Festival’s official website.
