Savannah, Georgia's oldest city, would celebrate the 200th anniversary of its annual St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday (March 16), which has grown into one of the largest across the United States and was considered to be the South's biggest street party between New Orleans's Mardi Gras and Florida's spring break.
Thousands of revelers are expected to flock to Savannah and surrounding Chatham County to witness the parade through the city's downtown historic district.
The Associated Press reported that the parade lineup would include at least 230 pipe and drum bands, dignitaries on cars, marching military units, and floats, while downtown bars have stocked up on extra supplies of beer and city officials have rented 320 portable toilets in expectation for the turnout.
More than 18,000 hotel rooms across the Savannah metropolitan area have also nearly sold out for the weekend.
"We're expecting historic crowds from visitors and residents alike," Savannah City Manager Jay Melder told a press conference.
Savannah Police Department's Sgt. Jason Pagliario added that his fellow officers would be in full force in the lead-up to the festivities and have requested assistance from several law enforcement agencies to augment their staff.
How Savannah's St. Patrick's Day Started
The first Irish immigrants settling in Savannah, in cooperation with the Hibernian Society of Savannah, inaugurated its first St. Patrick's Day parade on March 17, 1824, by marching from a hotel near the riverfront to attend a special service at what then was the city's only Catholic church, in which they invited Bishop John England, an Irish native appointed to lead the newly formed Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, to participate in the service.
"May the example of Savannah be widely influential," England told both the Catholic and Protestant congregations inside the church at that time. "Here men who differ in religion may meet as friends and brethren."
Georgia Southern University Center for Irish Research and Teaching director Howard Keeley added that the Irish society marched back to the hotel after the service, where the bishop joined about 80 members for an evening banquet marked by a steady stream of toasts.
"They partied the night away, apparently," he said. "It was a big celebration. The Hibernians had always had these celebrations since their founding in 1812. This one was just kind of amped up by the presence of the bishop."
Savannah's St. Patrick's Day parade, like its older counterparts in New York and Boston, were likely rooted in military units celebrating the holiday during the American Revolution, Keeley explained, noting that there were accounts of Irish-born soldiers marching on St. Patrick's Day while serving under George Washington.
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