By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

The 199th Montreal St-Patrick’s Day Parade — started in 1824 making it Canada’s oldest — attracted tens of thousands of Montrealers to DeMaissoneuve Boulevard from Fort Street to Jeanne Mance on Sunday.

The rain began to clear just as the parade began to march and roll and as the drums, horns, music and dancers uplifted the cheering crowd, the clouds began to open up for the sun to shine down, matching up with the bright energy on the ground.

“This is our first year back to a full scale parade for the first time since the pandemic,” Lauren Tracey, past princess and spokesperson for the United Irish Societies, told The Suburban. “It is so exciting to be back!”

Officers in training from John Abbott college police tech, led by Ile-Bizard Mayor Doug Hurley along with Montreal police officers ensured the safety of the crowd as the parade moved through the city’s downtown.

Amongst the 92 participating groups, long-established parade favorites like the Black Watch Regiment, the St. Patrick‘s Society, Erin Sports, the RCMP Band, Karnak Shriners, Bernadette Short’s School of Irish dance, Knights of Colombus and the Royal Canadian Navy enchanted spectators throughout the two hour long spectacle.

Parade Queen Chloe Miller sporting her diamond-cut custom Nike sneakers along with Princesses Madison Lalonde, Mia Simard, Julia Meikle Rochford and Shaeleigh Spracklin delighted their fans with royal waves and dazzling smiles.

The Queen‘s Band followed by its cheerleaders was last but definitely not least, generating the loudest cheers and whistles of all with an extraordinary performance.

Irishman of the year Ken Quinn encourages young people to join in on the parade. “There are so many local clubs (that participate in the parade) to choose from where many passions can be discovered,” Quinn told The Suburban. The Parade Grand Marshal was Mike Kennedy. n