All you need to know about Cork city's St Patrick’s Day parade

Cork is set to celebrate the St Patrick’s Festival with plenty of events right across this weekend.

Organised by Cork City Council, the weekend will culminate with the St Patrick’s Day Parade on Monday. The parade will begin at 1pm on St Patrick’s Day and will feature over 3,000 participants and 57 groups.

Cork will welcome international groups including the High School Spartan Legion Marching Band from Colorado, and Batala, an international collection of local samba groups from several areas in the UK and further afield.

The Kabin Studio, whose iconic song The Spark has just won the RTÉ Choice Music Song of the Year, will lead out the parade as grand marshals. The MC for the parade this year is Cork’s Red FM presenter KC. Orla Carroll, director of product development at Fáilte Ireland, said that the organisation is pleased to support the St Patrick’s Festival in Cork.

“Festivals and events are a key component of Ireland’s tourism offering and they provide unique and compelling reasons for a visitor to choose a destination. They also have the ability to drive footfall for local businesses, supporting jobs and revenue generation.

“Fáilte Ireland is working closely with the festival organisers and the local community to develop and promote a compelling programme of events and experiences that celebrate both our national holiday, and all that Cork has to offer.”

The Cork parade will begin at the junction of South Mall and Parnell Place, before it makes its way along South Mall and Grand Parade. Then the parade will go up Patrick Street and finish up on Merchant’s Quay.

For people heading into Cork city for the parade, wheelchair users and those with special needs will be accommodated in a special area in front of Dunnes Stores on Patrick Street.

There will be ISL Interpreter services available beside the grandstand, which this year is situated near the Tourist Information Office on Patrick Street.

Information on road closures and diversions, bus re-routing, and park and ride bus facilities will be posted on corkstpatricksfestival.ie, along with a full listing of festival events. The parade will be streamed live from 12.45pm on March 17 on corkstpatricksfestival.ie/parade.