HISTORY OF THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE
| 1996 | A small group walked down Tryon Street with a bagpiper. |
| 1997 | Linda Dyer Hart, along with the Knights of Columbus, revived the Charlotte St. Patrick’s Day Parade & she started the First Annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival, which was held at Independence Park in the Elizabeth neighborhood. The festival featured music, crafts & rugby exhibitions. Pat Terrell, a former football player at Notre Dame and a Carolina Panthers player was the first Grand Marshal. |
| 1998 | The Parade moved to Uptown Charlotte and marched down Tryon Street. The Ancient Order of Hibernians became involved with the Knights of Columbus and with Dyer Hart Productions in organizing the Parade. Bob Knowles, the late newscaster at WBT-TV served as Grand Marshal |
| 1999 | The St. Patrick’s Day Festival was held on Tryon Street between 5th and 6th Street. Rob Walsh who was President of the Center City Partners served grand Marshal. |
| 2000 | The St.Patrick’s Day Parade was led by Grand Marshal Mike Collins of WFAE-FM. The festival moved to the First Union (now Wachovia) Atrium & Plaza. |
| 2001 | Grand Marshal Jerry Healy, principal of Holy Trinity Middle School, led the St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year. |
| 2002 | Deputy Chief David Duffy of the Charlotte Fire Department was the Grand Marshal of the parade and the festival was held at the Wachovia Atrium & Plaza. The Fire Department flew a huge American flag to commemorate those lost in 9/11 as they led the parade down Tryon Street. |
| 2003 | Over 10,000 spectators watched the parade. The Grand Marshal of the parade was Mayor Pat McCrory of the City of Charlotte. Black 47, a popular Irish rock group, performed as headliners. |
| 2004 | Over 20,000 spectators watched the parade. The Grand Marshal of the parade was Ray Farris. The Dublin City Ramblers, a popular Irish group, performed as headliners. |
| 2005 | Over 25,000 spectators watched the parade. The Grand Marshal of the parade was Jim Babb. |
| 2006 | Over 40,000 spectators watched the parade. The Grand Marshal of the parade was Moira Quinn. The Red Herring Irish Band, and Irongrass, a popular local group, performed as headliners.The festival named officially changed to the Charlotte Goes Green Festival. |
| 2007 | While it was a little chilly, we still had over 40,000 spectators turn out to watch the biggest parade yet with over 90 entries. Our Grand Marshall, the Dublin American Bus Connection came over from Dublin with over 30 members to lead the parade through Uptown Charlotte. The Charlotte Goes Green Festival had record crowds that enjoyed the rest of the day with live music and Irish dancers, great Irish/Celtic vendors, good food & drink and plenty to do for the kids. |
| 2008 | We had another huge turnout, despite threatening weather, that saw over 100 entries in the parade, led by our Grand Marshall, WBTV’s Maureen O’Boyle. We even stepped off a little earlier to accommodate the ACC Tournament, which was in town that weekend. The Charlotte Goes Green Festival moved to a new location on Tryon St. & had standing room only crowds for the afternoon validating our decision to move it to a more open space. The music, dancers and many vendors added to the afternoon’s fun. |
| 2009 | We will announce our 2009 Grand Marshall later in the fall. |
Remember, the festival is a free festival, open to everyone with no admission charges.
Come on down and be part of the fun and help make this the best year yet!
©2008 Charlotte St. Patrick's Day Parade & Charlotte Goes Green Festival - Site redesign by Prime Tyme Solutions, LLC