St. Patrick's Day Parade 2021 Goes Virtual In San Francisco

San Francisco CA

12 February, 2021

1:53 PM

Description

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The legendary St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival in San Francisco will take a virtual route for 2021 due to the pandemic, according to organizers. "With the current situation, we do not foresee the possibility of an actual physical parade," the United Irish Societies San Francisco said. This marks the second year in a row the 170-year tradition will not be held in-person. In 2020, organizers pulled the plug about a week before the parade and festival as coronavirus-related restrictions were beginning. For the 2021 virtual edition, the organization is inviting the Bay Area community to submit photographs and videos of remembrances and past parades. The entry deadline is Feb. 26. See info here for details. United Irish Societies is not alone in scrapping in-person, St. Paddy's plans in California. Also in the SF Bay Area, the two-day St. Patrick's Day festival in Dublin, a massively popular event that typically draws crowds of up to 80,000, is being refashioned this year into a weeklong mix of online and in-person activities. Dublin's Shamrock 5K Fun Run & Walk, for one, will go on in virtual format, while the St. Patrick's pancake breakfast, hosted each year by Alameda County firefighters, is canceled. And in Southern California, cancellations recently were announced for two big draws, the Annual St. Patrick's Parade & Festival in San Diego and the County Ventura St. Patrick's Day Parade in Ventura. San Diego organizers said their 2021 plans may include virtual or scaled-back festivities. ----------- ALSO SEE: Drive-Thru Crab Feeds 2021 Guide: SF Bay Area