THE theme for this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in the city has been revealed as ‘Heroes: Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times’ . The theme is a homage to the individuals and organisations who have made a difference to their communities during the pandemic.

Organised by Cork City Council, the Cork St Patrick’s Day Festival will take place from March 17 to March 20, with the parade taking place for the first time in two years on March 17. The promised “abundance of colour, pageantry, puppetry and performance” takes to the streets at 1pm on St Patrick’s Day along the usual parade route.

“The St Patrick’s Day parades were the first events to be cancelled in 2020, so it’s only right they should be the first big events to appear back on our streets,” said Lord Mayor of Cork Colm Kelleher.

“Getting through these past two years is certainly something to be celebrated, and as part of that the Cork parade will celebrate the ordinary heroes of our times.”

Mr Kelleher told The Echo recently he hopes the four-day weekend will be a shot in the arm for the hospitality sector in Cork after an exceptionally challenging two-year period.

Cork City Council has reached out to almost 200 community, sporting and voluntary groups about participating in the parade and says that the response to date has been very positive. The local authority said the parade will take place on the usual route.

There is still time for groups to register their interest to take part in the parade by emailing stpatricksfestival@corkcity.ie

Details of the Cork St Patrick’s Festival will be available on corkstpatricksfestival.ie next week. Updates will also be posted on Facebook @corkstpatricksfestival and on Twitter @corkpaddysfest.