St. Patrick's Day Parade & Festival 2021 Canceled In San Diego

SAN DIEGO, CA — The traditional St. Patrick's Day Irish Festival & Parade in San Diego will not take place in-person this year, due to the pandemic, as organizers eye possible online or "scaled-back" festivities.

"Due to the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 St. Patrick's Day Parade & Festival will be canceled," the Irish Congress of Southern California/San Diego said. "We are deeply saddened to cancel two years in a row, but the health and well-being of our community, friends and family is our highest priority."

In 2020, organizers were forced to cancel just days before the planned parade, dubbed the "largest parade west of the Mississippi,"along with the Irish festival in Balboa Park, as coronavirus-related restrictions were beginning.

As for 2021 plans: "The ICSC is currently exploring alternatives, including an online event, fundraisers or a scaled-down celebration later in the year if state mandates allow," the organization said.

The Irish Congress, founded in 1980, hosted its first San Diego parade in 1981, plus other such activities over the years as the "Miss Colleen Pageant," the "Smiling Irishman Contest" and the "House of Ireland in Balboa Park."

And the local group is not alone in scrapping in-person, St. Paddy's plans in California.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, two, big crowd-draws recently canceled in-person fests: San Francisco's St. Patrick's Day Parade & Festival, a 170-year tradition; and a two-day weekend extravaganza in the Dublin suburb, a massively popular event that typically drew crowds up to 80,000.

And also in Southern California, cancellation recently was announced for the County Ventura St. Patrick's Day Parade in Ventura.

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