Spokane St. Patrick’s Day parade is Saturday. Here’s what you need to know
Weather forecasts for the 45th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade set to kick off at noon Saturday in downtown Spokane are looking sketchy, but the parade will go on as planned.
The National Weather Service is predicting precipitation Saturday that may fall as snow in some areas in the morning, then rain in the afternoon. The high temperature is expected to be around 49 degrees.
“We’re not going to have 68 and sunny like last year,” said Friendly Sons of St. Patrick parade committee member Paul Delaney. “This parade goes on, rain, snow or whatever.”
The annual parade is always held on the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day. The weather in the Spokane area in March is unpredictable at best, which means the parade has been held in all types. Some years the parade has been lucky, with either snow or rain falling in the morning, but stopping by parade time.
The first time rain fell during the parade was in 2003, Delaney said.
“It took 25 years for the parade to ever have rain,” he said.
The highest temperature on parade day has hit 68 degrees twice, in 2024 and 1992. The coldest parade was in 2002, when the high temperature was 37 degrees.
If the weather is poor on Saturday, it could affect the number of entries in the parade. People can sign up to be in the parade in advance, but last-minute entries are typically reopened the morning of the parade, Delaney said.
“If the weather’s nice, we have a flood of people,” he said. “That really pushes the entries up a lot.”
Last year’s good weather led to many last-minute entries, pushing the parade to a record high of 112.
The parade typically includes some bands, local community groups, businesses and nonprofit organizations. It’s not unusual for animals like goats, horses and llamas to make an appearance, some of them dyed green.
The parade route through downtown Spokane is usually packed, with some people arriving hours early to claim prime viewing spots. The route is unchanged from the past few years. Parade entrants will line up on Washington Street north of the Spokane River, head south on Washington to Main Street, zigzag to the west between Spokane Falls Boulevard and Main Street before ending at City Hall.
A detailed map is available at friendlysonsofstpatrick.com/map.asp.
The grand marshal of this year’s parade is Keats McLaughlin, a Friendly Sons of St. Patrick member who has been integral to planning the annual parade for more than a decade, Delaney said.
Central Pre-Mix has been named the Irish business of the year.
Other honors are: Chase Van Cotthem, Irish man of the year; Kathey Webley, Irish woman of the year; Macaela Moran, Irish colleen of the year; and Clan Droter, Irish clan of the year.
Each year, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick meet after the parade to vote on which local organizations will receive donations of money it raised. In years past, donations have been made to Project Beauty Share, the Humane Society, the Union Gospel Mission, the Haran Irish Dancers, Behind the Badge and the Second Harvest food bank.