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Last Saturday, thousands marched down Fifth Avenue, with crowds cheering them on from the sidewalk for the 252nd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Leading the parade, as it has since 1851, was the New York Army National Guard 69th Regiment of the 1st Battalion, also known as “The Fighting 69th.”
Parents hoisted their children onto their shoulders, teenagers watched through beer sunglasses and bright green body paint, and elderly folks enjoyed the parade they grew up with.
Mayor Bloomberg marched with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny followed by military guards in perfect formation, high school marching bands, the oldest baton twirling troupe in the country, and a whole lot of kilts.
Tony White and his wife Caroline, both Dublin natives, flew in the day before just to see the famous parade and will celebrate until their return home on Tuesday.
“We’re gonna drink and then drink some more,” said Tony White. “Wherever we fall in, we fall in.”
Also along the parade route was a protest against the parade’s exclusion of the LGBT community. Students and alumni of the Manhattan Comprehensive Day and Night School organized the protest and invited parade goers to join them in spreading awareness by hoisting signs.
“People are surprised to find out,” social worker Margaret Aylward said. “They don’t understand why this is still an issue in 2013.”
The parade began on 44th Street at 11 a.m. and ran down Fifth Avenue for over six hours culminating at 79th Street.