The Paris Parade and other Saint Patrick's events over the years

About

The Irish in France association organises an annual Saint Patrick’s Day event in Paris. The parade or event usually takes place on the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day. The first Paris St. Patrick’s Day Parade took place in 2018 when a dedicated group of 500 people braved the snow to parade around the Pantheon.

In 2019, a crowd of over 2000 people walked and the parade was addressed by Junior Minister John Halligan and led by H.E. Ambassador Patricia O’Brien, then Ambassador of Ireland to France, H.E. Dermot Nolan, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the OECD, Mme Florence Berthout, Mayor of the 5th arrondissement, Mr Pierre Casanova 1er Adjoint to the Mayor of the 5th arrondissement, Nora Hickey M’Sichili, Director of the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Mr Paul Lynch, President of the Irish in France Association and the Grand Marshal, Fr. Aidan Troy. The parade received strong support from the Mayor of the 5th arrondisement’s office, the Embassy of Ireland, the Centre Culturel Irlandais and the Department of Foreign Affairs. 

In 2020, due to Covid-19 the parade was cancelled. Nine more community groups were due to participate in 2020, bringing the total to twenty.  But where there’s a will, there’s a way, and in 2021 we celebrated together online, until finally, in March 2022we were able to be together again in person.

For 2023, we were back again, on March 12th, for music, dancing, burgers and more…there was even a touch of rugby on the day! 

Our Members receive a regular newsletter with the latest information on our upcoming events, sign up to discover what 2024 has in store!

Photos ©Oisin Gormally Photography, our official and volunteer parade photographer. 

St. Patrick's Day Resource Pack

Some resources for young and old to help you to get into the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day. 

Traditional Irish Songs
The Symbol of the Harp
Trish's Traditional Recipes
Folklore en Irlande
St. Patricks Day around the World
About St. Patrick
Kids Activity Pack
A Poem In Irish
Saint Patrick's Day 2023

Social Media

For those members who can’t attend the parade in Paris, there is a strong effort made to engage with the community online both in France and abroad on our Facebook Group, on Twitter and on Instagram.

For example, every year our little Paris Leprechauns take trips around France and the world before coming back to Paris just in time for the parade. Our leprechauns were designed by Cork artist Ciara Chapman, who has given her time and wonderful illustrations for free.

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