Spokane’s St. Patrick’s Day parade Saturday could be a record-breaker

Prepare for a sea of green. The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick’s 44th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade is Saturday.

Ray Hamilton, president of the organization, expects this year’s parade to be the biggest yet in terms of parade participants.

With more than 100 participants, “last year was the largest parade we have ever had,” Hamilton said. “We’re expecting with this beautiful spring weather that we’re supposed to have, it will be over that.”

About 80 participants were registered as of Friday, a normal amount, Hamilton said.

“ (Saturday), we could get anywhere from 50 to 60 more,” he said.

The National Weather Service predicted clear and sunny skies over the weekend, with a high of 64 degrees and a low of 39 degrees Saturday.

The St. Patrick’s Day parade will begin at noon, and Hamilton predicted things to wrap up by 2 p.m.

According to the Spokane Police Department, the parade’s staging area, south of Boone Avenue and east of Washington Street, will be closed to traffic from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the parade route will be closed from 11 a.m. until the parade ends.

The route will be the same as past years, Hamilton said.

The staging entrance will be at Boone Avenue and Washington Street. Traveling south on Washington, the parade will cross the Spokane River and Riverfront Park, before zigzagging downtown.

It will proceed west on Main Avenue, north on Stevens Street, west on Spokane Falls Boulevard, south on Howard Street, west on Main Avenue, North on Wall Street and west on Spokane Falls Boulevard, ending near City Hall.

With other events, such as Spokane Velocity soccer at ONE Spokane Stadium, also happening Saturday, “(it’s) going to be an extremely busy day in downtown Spokane,” Hamilton said. “Parking’s going to be a problem.”

Hamilton encouraged attendees to come early and to try to be patient with one another.

Visit friendlysonsofstpatrick.com or “The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Spokane” on Facebook for more information.