The Drogheda Festivals Group really pulled out all the stops for this years St Patrick’s Day Parade, whose theme of “Irish Myths and Legends” was inspired by the DRAWDA Urban Art Trails, an art walking trail made up of six large-scale murals of Irish Mythological characters. The volunteer group managed to deliver one of the largest St Patrick’s Day Parades in living memory, with a record number of entrants from volunteer groups, artists, sports clubs, community groups, schools, performance groups and bands as well as commercial floats. The creativity on display from all who were involved was second-to-none and the theme of “Irish Myths and Legends” was embraced by so many of the groups involved.
Love Drogheda BIDs were delighted to be this year’s main sponsor to help support and deliver the St Patrick’s Day parade. Volunteer and community groups such as the Drogheda Festivals Group are vital to the successful running of town and community events such as the St Patrick’s Day parade and therefore adding to the vitality to a town, making it a better place to experience, live and work in. The Drogheda Festivals Group are a dedicated group who all want to showcase Drogheda and all that it has to offer and Love Drogheda BIDs is delighted to support their good work.
Although the rain didn’t quite stay away, it could not damped the spirits of the hundreds of people that lined the parade route to witness the colour and noise of the parade entrants. Large-scale puppet installations were crafted by groups such as Droichead Arts Centre, a project that they delivered in partnership with four local schools and Ablevision, 5 visual artists, and a choreographer. Two additional organisations, the Special Olympics group and Droichead Youth Theatre also joined in with the Droichead Arts Centre on the day to activate their incredible 20-foot long Salmon of Knowledge float.
Other groups participating include Abacas School, Kidkast, Drogheda Pride group, and the My Streets charity group, who got sponsorship from Coca Cola as part of their “Thank you Fund”. The My Streets group and artists also created the Love Drogheda float, a stunning 7-foot high swan made entirely from recycled materials. The swan was inspired by the story of Étaín who was transformed into a swan along with her lover after being separated by several lifetimes. Inspiration was taken from the mural of Étaín, created by Nina Valkhoff which can be seen on Meatmarket Lane, across from the BIDs office. Nina’s mural has recently been shortlisted by Street Art Cities for “Best Mural in 2022”.
This year’s Master of Ceremonies and parade announcer was Alison Comyn of the Drogheda Independent, who was joined on stage by judges as well as visitors to the town such as the Turkish Ambassador and his family, and dignitaries from France. A stand-out moment of the parade was the rousing round of applause received by the walkers from the Ukrainian Community in Drogheda.
The success of this years St Patrick’s Day parade serves as an outstanding example of what can be achieved when communities work together with a common goal and of how important volunteer groups are to the vitality of a town. Congratulations to all the volunteers, businesses, groups, schools, artists, sports clubs and of course to the Drogheda Festivals Group for an incredible event. Thank you for bringing a huge sense of town pride to Drogheda. Check out the Drogheda Festivals Facebook page for more images, videos and for the Best Float winners.
