Downtown Scranton will be full of people gathered for the annual St. Patrick’s Parade. Newswatch 16’s Adi Iyer spoke to people excited for the event.

SCRANTON, Pa. — It’s almost time for downtown’s streets to be flooded with green for Scranton’s St. Patrick’s Parade. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing some of my friends I grew up with,” said Dan Snopek of Scranton.

“I’m excited, I like parades, I think it’s a good way for communities to bond together and enjoy something,” said Shimberlyn Walker from Cedar Hills, TX. ” With all the things going on in the world, why not enjoy something right?”

Parade day is one of the busiest days of the year for bars in the city. It’s so busy that the St. Patrick’s Parade can revive fixtures of the community.

“We thought, you know, let’s try to see if we can open up for parade day, and here we are, this is what we’re doing, so yes, it’s exciting, it’s an exciting process, and it’s a lot of fun,” said Sandy Rosado, Rocky’s Manager.

Parade day also serves as the perfect introduction of some new businesses to the city.

“Probably one of the busiest days in downtown Scranton, especially for bars,” said Tom Borthwick, Electric City Ciderworks Co-owner. “So, it’s exciting because hey, we’re going to show off what we make, the quality of our product, but then at the same time we’re going to be dealing with a volume of people we’re not used to.”

“Definitely excited, for a new business, this is a great influx for us, from a financial standpoint,” said Mike Manci, 7 Under Golf and Social Co-owner. “The key is just to have a controlled environment that people can enjoy, that’s what we’re looking for.”

It’s a day business owners spend preparing for.

“We have dozens and dozens and dozens of our six stills, ready to go, were as ready as we’ll ever be,” added Borthwick.

“We’re ready, we got everything prepared, it’s a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun as well, and we’re ready to go,” said Rosado.

“Making sure we have enough beer, making sure we have the right products, to serve the customers. Obviously, getting a good plan in place for exits and entries, as far as wristbands, hand stamps, things like that,” said Manci.