Cincinnati's 56th St. Patrick's Day parade is Saturday. Parade Committee Chair Chris Schulte says it started as a religious procession, but has evolved into a celebration of heritage.
"This city, from its very founding, its core, was founded on immigrants, Irish being one of them. We're certainly a melting pot," he says. "Look, I'm a Schulte, so I've got German in me, and I'm blessed with some Irish. We celebrate our German heritage in October and September and absolutely we celebrate the patron saint of Ireland here on March 17 [the official holiday]."
Schulte says a parade for the holiday is a uniquely American tradition. "The parade came about in the '60s, with the Ancient Order of Hibernians deciding to have one," he says. "Continuing it now, it's just celebrating our heritage, but also not losing that identity. Yes, we're all Americans, but we can be Irish-Americans."
Schulte says the parade route has been adapted many times. For example, it went along Pete Rose Way before the stadiums were built, and Downtown before the renovation of Fountain Square. Schulte says it now travels along Mehring Way.
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"With this, we really believe we've found a good home. We have a great partnership with the businesses there at The Banks. We're going along Mehring Way, so you're going through Smale Park. It's family-friendly. It's open, you don't have the shadows of the buildings, the skyscrapers, if the weather's cold. We just love everything about this route."
Road closures and what to expect
The parade starts Saturday, March 16 at noon at Mehring Way and Central Avenue. It travels east to Main Street/Joe Nuxhall Way, where it heads north to Freedom Way.
At one point, he says the parade included around 600 entries and lasted four hours. Today, Schulte says there are about 75 entries, including four marching bands, four fire departments, the Hamilton County Sheriff's pipe and drum corps, and lots of Irish family groups.
The City of Cincinnati Department of Transportation and Engineering advises a number of streets will be closed for the parade.
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The following streets will close at 9 a.m. Saturday:
- Mehring Way, between Gest Street and Elm Street
- Central Avenue, south of W Pete Rose Way
In order to secure the parade route, the following streets will close at 11:30 a.m.:
- Mehring Way, between Gest Street and E Pete Rose Way
- Elm Street, between Freedom Way and Mehring Way
- Race Street, south of Second Street (Garage access maintained)
- Marian Spencer Way closed to through traffic between Second Street and Ted Berry Way (Garage access maintained)
- Joe Nuxhall Way, between Second Street and Mehring Way
- Freedom Way, between Race Street and Joe Nuxhall Way
Streets should reopen by 3 p.m.
