Corkmas parade to mark the start of festive season in city next month

A Corkmas parade to mark the start of the Christmas season and the switch-on of the Christmas lights in Cork city is planned for next month, the council has confirmed.

The parade will take place on Friday, November 14, from 7pm to 8pm.

The parade will travel from North Main St along Washington St to Patrick Street, Bridge St and MacCurtain St, and the council anticipates that the event will attract approximately 40,000 people.

The plan was circulated to the relevant Cork City Council areas such as traffic, roads control, environment, and Cork Fire Brigade, to prescribed bodies such as An Garda Síochána and the HSE, as well as other key stakeholders including Bus Éireann and St John Ambulance.

All agencies were invited to multi-stakeholder meetings in relation to the planning of the event.

Sinn Féin councillor Kenneth Collins said he was delighted to see that the event, which was proposed by him last year, will go ahead again.

“I encourage everybody to come into the city for it. I’m delighted that after my initial motion, the council had workshops, and listened to what we were hearing on the streets,” he told The Echo.

“The city centre will be booming; there will be a festive feeling all over; and hopefully people will spend a bit in the shops and they can kick off their festive season — it’s the start of Christmas in Cork.”

He commended the work of the council on the parade, and its other Christmas initiatives such as a children’s art competition, which will see bus shelters decorated with festive artwork.