The long-standing traditional and very well celebrated St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been cancelled by CelticFest Vancouver, the organization responsible for staging the annual Parade. CelticFest said it took the action because the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games would leave “downtown venues and our community’s volunteer pool…stretched to the absolute maximum, making it [the parade] essentially impossible.”
Games organizers warned that the parade would coincide with already planned events associated with The Winter Paralympic Games, which were officially opened last Friday. Irish sources in Vancouver say they had started their preparations for the upcoming Parade in 2011, and promised it would be bigger and more spectacular.
But there’s no problem for the Irish community and people of Vancouver to get together in local pubs and bars to show off their green colours while listen to the music, perform traditional dances and drink Guinness. Although St. Patrick’s Day main celebrations are scheduled to be held on Wednesday, the streets of Vancouver have already started to add some Irish green to Canadian red-and white.
The parade not only gathers people of Irish origin but also others to participate on the streets. Last year, during a freezing, snow-and-rain weather, Korean dancers appeared on the parade along with Morris Dancers from England.
Below photo report illustrates Irish people having fun on the streets of Vancouver in last year.
