Here\u2019s everything you need to know about attending the Scranton St. Patrick\u2019s Parade, the\u00a0biggest annual event in Lackawanna County<\/a>.<\/p>\n Parade Day is a big deal in Scranton<\/p>\n Scranton\u2019s parade may not be the largest in the country, but it\u2019s certainly one of the biggest relative to a city\u2019s size. With a city population of just over 75,000 people, Scranton can nearly double in size on Parade Day, which occurs annually on the Saturday before St. Patrick\u2019s Day (March 17).<\/p>\n In 2026, Parade Day takes place March 14. The parade steps off at 11:45 am, following the city\u2019s annual Parade Day mass and footrace.<\/p>\n Visitors are treated to displays from thousands of parade participants, from Irish step dancers and community members on colorful, inventive floats to high school marching bands and traditional bagpipe groups.<\/p>\n Thousands of Irish immigrants settled in the Scranton area in the mid-1800s, with many taking dangerous, low-paying jobs in the region\u2019s anthracite coal mines. Proud of their culture, Irish immigrants hosted the first St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade in Scranton in the 1850s, an all-day celebration that was likely organized by Irish miners and other laborers,\u00a0according to the Lackawanna Historical Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n The annual parades took place until the early 1900s, when they disappeared from the Lackawanna history records. In fact, in 1933, the Scranton Times reported that these initial parades \u201cwere colorful and interesting, but it is generally conceded that the present method of observing the day with dinners and speechmaking is more appropriate and satisfying,\u201d\u00a0per the Scranton Times-Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fortunately, not everyone agreed: The St. Patrick\u2019s Parade was\u00a0revived in earnest<\/a>\u00a0in 1962, the first year of the modern incarnation of Parade Day, after a leader in the Scranton Knights of Columbus saw the 1961 St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade in Savannah, Georgia, and knew something similar had to happen in Scranton.<\/p>\n The next year, Scranton indeed held the first St. Patrick\u2019s Parade in decades, attracting\u00a040,000 people<\/a>\u00a0despite several inches of snow having fallen the night before.<\/p>\n The parade only grew in popularity in the decades that followed, even becoming an important stop for politicians hoping to win state elections\u2014and\u00a0national ones<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can join the tens of thousands of visitors who deck themselves in green for the three-and-a-half-hour parade.<\/p>\n The parade route starts at Wyoming Avenue and Mulberry Street, heads down Wyoming, then turns left onto Lackawanna Avenue, which soon becomes Jefferson Avenue. From there, the parade turns left onto Biden Street and right onto North Washington Avenue, which it follows until ending at Vine Street.<\/p>\n Parade-goers can sit on the bleachers near the judges\u2019 reviewing booth on North Washington Avenue or take in the floats and entertainment by standing (or bringing chairs or blankets for lounging) on any of the route\u2019s streets: Lackawanna Avenue and Wyoming Avenue are popular parade viewing locations.\u00a0But according to parade organizers<\/a>, \u201cthere aren\u2019t any bad places along the parade route.\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019ll just want to arrive early so you can select your spot; the roads begin closing at 9:30 am.<\/p>\n In a tradition that dates from 1944, St. Patrick\u2019s Day in Scranton\u2014and thus Parade Day\u2014kicks off with a Catholic mass at Scranton\u2019s\u00a0Cathedral of Saint Peter<\/a>. The mass starts at the cathedral at 10 am\u2014and is\u00a0also available to stream<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brian P. Kelly Memorial St. Patrick\u2019s Parade Race<\/p>\n The\u00a0Brian P. Kelly Memorial St. Patrick\u2019s Parade Race<\/a>\u00a0is the oldest road race in Scranton, according to parade organizers, as a pre-parade race has been a St. Patrick\u2019s Day tradition in Scranton since the early 1980s. The relatively flat, two-mile course follows the parade route and starts at 11 am sharp to avoid conflicting with the parade itself.<\/p>\n The race is named in memory of Brian Kelly, who was president of the St. Patrick\u2019s Parade Association before he died in 2004.<\/p>\n More Parade Day festivities in Scranton<\/p>\n The parade is, of course, the biggest attraction of Parade Day, but you\u2019ll also want to visit some of the local Scranton businesses that will help you celebrate St. Patrick\u2019s Day on the day of the parade (and after). Many bars and restaurants will host Parade Day specials\u2014here is just a sample of Parade Day festivities outside the official parade events, with a note that more celebrations will certainly be announced the closer we get to the big day.<\/p>\n Cooper\u2019s Seafood House Parade Day breakfast buffet<\/p>\n Cooper\u2019s Seafood House<\/a>\u00a0(of \u201cThe Office\u201d fame<\/a>) hosts an\u00a0all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet<\/a>\u00a0in honor of Parade Day, with a wide spread of hearty foods to help you fuel up before the parade, as well as live music. Reservations are recommended.<\/p>\n AV Restaurant & Lounge Parade Day lunch<\/p>\n Upscale\u00a0AV Restaurant & Lounge<\/a>\u00a0in downtown Scranton is usually only open for dinner, but on Parade Day, the restaurant will host a special lunch, starting at noon, featuring classic Irish food and drinks.\u00a0Reservations<\/a>\u00a0are recommended.<\/p>\n Bud\u2019s Bar & Grill Parade Day party<\/p>\n In the evening after the parade,\u00a0Bud\u2019s Bar & Grill<\/a>\u00a0is hosting a\u00a0Parade Day party<\/a>, with no cover, featuring happy hour specials from 6 to 8 pm.<\/p>\n Ale Mary\u2019s Hangover Brunch<\/p>\n Like many of the bars in Scranton,\u00a0Ale Mary\u2019s at the Bittenbender<\/a>\u00a0will certainly be hosting Parade Day festivities on the day itself, but it also invites guests to pull themselves out of bed on Sunday morning to tuck into its annual \u201cHangover Brunch.\u201d Check\u00a0Ale Mary\u2019s social media<\/a>\u00a0for details as we get closer to Sunday, Mar. 15, but in general, you should expect an afternoon of brunch specials, mimosas and other cocktails, and live music.<\/p>\n This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cParade Day\u201d attracts tens of thousands of people to downtown Scranton each March. Scranton\u2019s\u00a0St. Patrick\u2019s Parade\u00a0isn\u2019t just any…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-136450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"All](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Biggest-event-of-the-year_Scranton_St_Patricks_Day_Parade_2025_Hiller_4064_LCVB-1024x683.jpg\")
Parade Day is the biggest event of the year in Lackawanna County. (Todd Hiller\/Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau)
\nThe history of the parade<\/p>\n![\"All](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Green-confetti_Scranton_St_Patricks_Day_Parade_2025_Hiller-1024x683.jpg\")
Green confetti rains down during the Scranton St. Patrick\u2019s Parade. (Todd Hiller\/Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau)
\nTaking in the parade<\/p>\n![\"All](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Colorful-float_Scranton_St_Patricks_Parade_2022_Smith_3179_LCVB-1024x683.jpg\")
A colorful float delights spectators during the Scranton St. Patrick\u2019s Parade. (Rebekah Smith\/Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau)
\nParade Day mass at St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral<\/p>\n