On the March

The largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade west of the Mississippi started 49 years ago in the most unassuming way possible: Three men drinking in a bar decided there should be a parade, so they took to the streets. In the half-century since, Denver's St. Patrick's Day Parade has become a massive undertaking, with over 200 entrants in this year’s Forever Green-themed parade on March 12. And it's still run entirely by volunteers. “We get something like a quarter of a million people in LoDo,” says Linda Garrison, chair of the parade's PR subcommittee. “Which is crazy.”

Related Content

• Reader: Highlight local artists, not LoDo retards
  April 13, 2012
• Coors Field: Ten things you probably didn't know about the home of the Rockies
  April 13, 2012
• Colorado Rockies fans without underwear, round two!
  April 12, 2012
• Play Ball
  May 17, 2012
• Reader: DU Cowboys and Indians party can't be compared to St. Patrick's Day
  March 30, 2012

More About

• Linda Garrison
• St. Patrick's Day
• Colorado State University
• Coors Field

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

This year, the voting for Queen Colleen was so close that there will be a court for the first time. The winner, by the slimmest of margins, is Keriayn O’Donnell, a senior at Colorado State University; she and her attendants will be joined in the parade by dozens of floats, Irish dancers, traditional bands, clowns, horses, Shriners, military honorees and more.

The parade starts at 10 a.m. at 27th and Blake streets. From there, it travels down Blake to 17th, then down to Wynkoop and back over to 19th, down to Wewatta, and across to the Coors Field parking lot. For more information and a route map, visit www.denverstpatricksdayparade.org.
Sat., March 12, 10 a.m., 2011