Raleigh’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade called off over coronavirus pandemic
The annual Raleigh St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival have been called off, event organizers announced Wednesday afternoon.
The popular parade and festival draws thousands of spectators to downtown Raleigh and would have been held Saturday, March 14 for the 38th year.
Initially, city officials and festival organizers planned to move forward with the event, but a decision was made by the Raleigh St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee late Wednesday afternoon to cancel.
“In the light of a global pandemic, we the organizers of the parade have made the heart wrenching decision to cancel this year,” the committee said in an emailed statement. “We want to keep everyone as safe as possible, participants and spectators. We worked really hard but we feel it is the best decision to keep our community safe. We hope to see you in 2021!”
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The city’s St. Patrick’s Day festival joins a growing list of local events called off and postponed because of the coronavirus, including film festivals, concerts and cultural events.
On Tuesday, Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency in North Carolina, and on Wednesday, the World Health Organization officially tagged the spread of the coronavirus a global pandemic.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 5:37 PM.
