St. Patrick's Day parade and festival information | Community Spirit

Looking for a “bit o green” for St. Patrick’s Day?  Why not stop by the 26th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and festival. 

The theme for 2013 is ‘The Gathering’.

WHEN: March 17, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

WHERE:  Armory Park on south Sixth Avenue, in Downtown Tucson, for the festival and the parade will be at Kennedy St. and Stone Ave.

The festival will start at 10 a.m., with live music, dancers, entertainment, as well as a children’s game area and access to food and merchandise vendors.  There will be traditional Irish drinks for sale to those over 21.

The parade will start at 11 a.m., the one hour parade will wind through the downtown area, and end at the festival site in Armory Park.  There are over 1,000 participants split up into floats, military units, local dignitaries, media and entertainment personalities, in addition to civic, cultural and social groups.  This parade has a 25 year history of providing family-friendly fun.  Admission is free to both the parade and the festival.  

Grand Marshal for this year’s parade is Jim Critchley, a native Tucsonan, who began his firefighting career with the Tucson Fire Department in 1988. He was promoted to Fire Captain in 1997. He became an Operations Battalion Chief in 2000 and was promoted to Assistant Fire Chief in 2009 and then to Fire Chief in 2011. In 2008, Critchley was awarded the Fire Chief of the Year by the Arizona State Fire Chiefs association. Chief Critchley is also currently the President of the Western Fire Chiefs Association.

For more information visit www.tucsonstpatricksday.com