The Fort Myers Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade will start at 10 a.m. this Saturday from Santini Plaza.
One year after the Fort Myers Beach Woman’s Club brought back the St. Patrick’s Day Parade to the island for the first time since before Hurricane Ian, they are doing so again this Saturday.
The parade will cover the south end of the island to mid-island, starting at Santini Marina Plaza at 10 a.m. and heading down to the mid-island intersection of Estero Boulevard and Sterling Avenue near the property of the Fort Myers Beach Woman’s Club.
An after-party at the Fort Myers Beach Woman’s Club will follow at 175 Sterling Avenue.
“It will be so much bigger than we had last year,” co-organizer Deb Nelson said.
There will be judging and prizes awarded to the top entries in the parade. Deb Nelson, a Fort Myers Beach Woman’s Club member, said this weekend’s parade will include dozens of floats and vehicles, along with hundreds of parade walkers.
There will be four marching bands, including the Dunbar High School Marching Band, Cape Coral, Island Coast and South Fort Myers. “The bands from last year could not wait to come back again this year. They are absolutely fantastic,” Nelson said.
First place in the parade contest will net entrants $500, with $300 to the runner-up and $200 to the third place winner. There are separate categories for non-motorized floats, golf carts/cars and motorcycles, and a third category for vehicles with trailers in the parade.
There is still time to enter a float in the parade by going on the website of the Fort Myers Beach Woman’s Club at www.fmb-wc.org.
The after-party will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature music, dancing, live bands, food trucks, green beer, and a fully-stocked bar.
There will be two live bands, five food trucks, photography, items for sale and a raffle for a man cave. The food trucks will include Irish food, Mexican food and pizza.
Entrance to the party is free though parking on the property will cost $10.
VIP tickets are sold out though there is a waiting list at a cost of $100 per ticket.
Those with VIP tickets will gain entrance into a private tent with seating, tables, a private bar, swag cooler, food and drink tokens, and front row viewing to the dance floor and live bands.
“This is a fundraiser for the Woman’s Club this year and we are hoping to raise some money to go to our building and hopefully put in shovels into the ground and build our new building back,” Nelson said.
Nelson said the club has raised almost half of the amount needed to build the club back. The club’s building was destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022.
“We’re just encouraging everyone to come out, have fun and just open up their hearts to the Woman’s Club and donate so we can build our building back,” Nelson said.
Nelson said this weekend’s celebration will be “a great event. Everybody gets their green on.”