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Health & Fitness

I love a parade!

New London Irish Parade

The first St. Patrick's Day parade in the United States was held March 17, 1762 in New York City to celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick and the anniversary of his death and with the dramatic increase of Irish immigrants to the United States in the mid-19th century, the March 17th celebration became widespread. Early Irish settlers to the American colonies, many of whom were indentured servants, brought the Irish tradition of celebrating St. Patrick's feast day to America. Today, across the United States, millions of Americans of Irish ancestries celebrate their cultural identity and history by enjoying St. Patrick's Day parades and engaging in general revelry.

The concept of the St. Patrick's Day parade has been exported back to Ireland: Dublin began its own St. Patrick's Day festival in the mid-1990s, and its flashy parade, which is noted for large and colorful puppet-like characters, draws hundreds of thousands of spectators every March 17th.

Who doesn’t love to watch as the marchers, floats and bands go by, maybe even being lucky enough to catch some flying candy! The sights, sounds and smells of the parade! The excitement! Even from behind the scenes it is a thing of beauty to behold.

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To quote Marlo Thomas, “A great parade is more than just a street party - it's an opportunity to come together and connect with others in a traditional, fun and joyful way.”

Today, New London will have that opportunity to come together and celebrate all we have to offer and connect with each other when the New London Irish Parade steps off onto Huntington Street and Jay at 1 pm to march for their 5th Annual parade. Come down and share all the sights, sounds and smells of the wonderful parade that the dedicated volunteers have put together for you. Slainte!

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