St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Not the best NOLA parade, but worth a look if you want some of that classic American-​Irish partying in the streets of a party city. You’ll find lots of locals since it’s not in the French Quarter. With that said, it’s nice to check out Magazine Street in general – you can definitely find some great spots you never would have if you stay in the touristy areas.

Gotta love the Irish Channel St. Patty’s Day parade! I like that this year they added barricades on Magazine Street. It really helped keep the crowd from getting unruly. There are tons (TONS) of walking groups that always have tons of fun. And then tons of floats throwing tons of veggies!!! It’s just a really fun parade and another «excuse» to drink all day, as if New Orleanians need another excuse…

I might be talking about a different parade than the posts from last year, because the location (from the Marigny area into the French Quarter) and time (evening instead of 2 PM) are different.
But, we really enjoyed the parade experience. We walked over to the beginning of the route, since it was a lot later than the advertised 6PM time and nothing was happening yet. It did start up not long after we got there, and we had a great time catching beads, seeing all the decorated cars (not the huge, fancy floats that I would have pictured but still neat) and watching drunk Irish dudes give flowers and kisses to the very happy older lady in front of us. I’m glad we walked over to where we did, since it was more of a local crowd there and not all tourists and vendors where the parade goes into the French Quarter

I guess if I want to review parade I have to add them. I accidentally added my photos to the Block Party link but this for the actual parade.
Please note that while this parade does not have a really long route, it takes forever because drunken men (mostly) are marching around handing out flowers, beads and sloppy kisses.
There are traditional bands and floats and you can expect to catch a variety of food items from the parade, from cabbages to carrots to peanut butter crackers (Yay for me on that one). Plus I also caught a bar of Irish Spring and a little ziploc bag of random candy.
The paraders are extra drunk and the crowd is happy and if the weather i great than it’s an awesome parade.
The most crowded areas are by bars on Magazine Street and not on St. Charles for this one.

A parade in New Orleans evokes a certain mental picture — huge intricately decorated floats with krewes working on them all year, brass bands and dancing troupes, marching people in sync with flashy uniforms and of course, huge crowds jostling for attention. That is not this parade. This parade is a bunch of drunken irishmen in tuxes, drunk as they should be from jello shots and whiskey before 10am, giving out flowers and kisses and marching-​ish down a parade route.
Don’t get me wrong — there are floats and some sense of orchestration but this parade is FUN! it doesn’t take itself so damn seriously — people are marching and singing and playing music and finding their relatives on the sidelines for sips of daquiri and hugs from their kids. There’s a sense of pure gaiety with a lot of booze and a side of 100 years of tradition thrown in.
Skip Mardi Gras with all the silliness and come to St. Pats instead. Make sure that you get a room first as they can be very hard to come by and you might have to sleep in your car. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.

I feel like New Orleanian’s motto should be «Can’t stop, Won’t stop» Just having survived Mardi Gras mayhem… we get hit with more parades. No complaint here! St. Patrick’s is one of my favorites! This is more of a block (ok a few blocks) party with the parade as an after thought. The parade didn’t hit Magazine Street until 2-​ish and by that time the crowd had been day-​drinking for quite some time.
If you can walk or ride your bike, do so. Parking is crazy this day! We chose to grab an early lunch at McClure’s and ride our bikes down Magazine. We posted up outside the Rendezvous and enjoyed green beer and green jello shots. By time the walking clubs of men in the parade reach you, most of them are waxed. Just makes people watching all the more enjoyable I say! But if you want fake flowers, be prepared to kiss some cheeks!
Word to the wise: Pace yourselves and wear green!

A great day parade that weens you off Mardi Gras!
So a week or so after Fat Tuesday, Carnival-​lovin’ New Orleanians start having some major withdrawals. Yes, we’re glad the debauchery is over, but «what do you mean I can’t carry around a go-​cup in my favorite koozie everywhere I go?» No a Bloody Mary isn’t a sufficient breakfast? Enter, St. Patrick’s Day Parade!
If you’re a habitual alcohol giver-​upper for Lent, don’t even bother reading these reviews or coming to this parade. It’ll test your sacrifice more than Jesus’ 40 days in the desert. You wake up to your personal Bloody Mary, and head out to the route at whatever time you see fit.
The parade doesn’t start till 2ish, plenty enough time to pound a baker’s dozen of green beer and regret the 5 shots of warm Jameson from the bottle your friend’s been carrying since the crack of dawn.
I head out to Bulldog first, find my father in his $ 7 Party City kilt precariously being held on by a thin strip of velcro, Lord save us, and snap a few photos of the Before, and try not to see the After. I bop in and out of Bulldog a few times, dancing in the corner by the poker machines (I’m not feeling that lucky!) and then head on my merry way down Magazine.
The Rum House is usually my next stop. They have a great outdoor bar and are usually peddling some delicious fruity drink, this year The Painkiller. Extremely refreshing after the earlier body-​warm Jameson shot that didn’t quite make it down the pipes.
At this point, I’m ready to find a house party.
Rule #1 about St. Paddy’s day house parties: Do a courtesy and at least find out the name of the host/​hostess and try to travel into a house party with a friend of a friend of a friend AT THE VERY LEAST. You’re a douche if you walk into a party and go for the corned beef and hash without attempting to meet one person there, or you’re pretty damn ballsy and will get the wrath of fellow friends.
Rule #2 don’t overstay your welcome unless it’s a really close friend. This makes it more of an HQ than a house party. Potty break. A little nosh fest. Ask the host/​hostess about their newborn baby or dog you see on FB all the time. Move on.
Now I’m ready to go to Tracey’s. Tracey’s is a little cray cray for my taste, and I keep it to the streets for the most part. They have a fun DJ, and usually you can talk a friend into making the trek inside to grab you a very very very very did I mention very stiff drink.
Oh, yes the actual parade. It’s almost an afterthought for me. I’m not big on vegetables, especially not ones that roll onto New Orleans streets after being softball chucked at my head though I do enjoy seeing friends and family on the floats and in the walking krewes that trades kisses for flowers and beads.
Reasons I love St. Paddy’s in a nutshell. Friends. Great People Watching. Day Parade. Day Drinking. My name is Morgan Ford, and I’m an…
Reason I hate St. Paddy’s in a nutshell. Married men who think it’s okay to try and pull down your shirt to «kiss you where he puts his sticker.» Ah, hell no. Using the excuse, «I’m married.» to put your filthy lips anywhere near my lady parts gives the rest of this kissing krewe a bad rap. Beware ladies. Personal space is personal space.
That is all, thank you to the rain gods for not dousing us this year, till next time!

One of the best parades in town featuring the treasured cabbage throw.

The parade is just, meh, but the party is a blast. It’s no surprise that the floats are super far apart since everybody is blitzed.
If you set up shop on Magazine St. you will be surrounded by hammered college kids, but if you turn the corner to Louisiana it is just like every other family parade in the city.
Last year I was so drunk when the parade rolled that I broke my finger catching a cabbage hurled at me from the top of a float.
No broken bones this year and I caught an Irish Network bus to the Finn’s St. Paddy’s day block party.
Only 3 stars for the parade, 5 stars for the party.
Averages out to 4 stars.

This is one of my absolute favorite days of the year. It is a non-​stop fun and insane time that goes and goes and goes. I have more fun at this parade than any parades during Mardi Gras. There are so many side parties and other things going on in addition to the main parade that it is just non-​stop fun that goes on late into the night. Besides my name is Shannon so the ladies have to kiss me with an Irish name like that.

This parade has got to be one of the reasons why New Orleans was recently ranked the 2^nd best city to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. It’s simple, it’s local, and it’s a lot of fun. The parade starts out with a procession of dapper Irish gentlemen, trading flowers for kisses, followed by the usual floats of bead throwers. You can watch the parade along Magazine Street, which is the host of a great, green block party, where many bars and restaurants offer food and drink specials. You can also watch the parade along St. Charles Avenue, which is a lot less crowded. So, depending on which scene you prefer, you have at least two really great options to enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Definitely my favorite New Orleans parade!

The St. Patrick’s day parade is a lot of fun.
While technically a parade, it has more of a street party/​neighborhood party feel. This was my first year and I roamed the area between the Bulldog and Tracey’s. All along the route were large groups of revelers having a great time. Everyone was happy, friendly, and many were a bit drunk. Apparently this parade requires an entire day of preparation (drinking).
The parade itself was fun. It seemed very disorganized as random groups of marchers and floats would have huge gaps in between them, but it didn’t matter.
One thing to remember is that this is a «kissing parade». The marchers carry silk flowers that they will give to the ladies in exchange for a cheek kiss. It is harmless fun, but you’ve been warned. If you are a jealous dude, or a germaphobic girl, you may want to stay at home.
I really enjoyed this parade. Since the crowd is mostly locals, everyone seemed friendly and in great spirits. While Mardi Gras has more throws, this parade may be my favorite.

This is a fabulous day long celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. Pretty much every bar and business on the block participates and it’s a huge party. The parade is really cool and is a nice follow up to Mardi Gras. It’s a small parade, but it’s a really good time and draws a fun crowd.