Where else but Blackrock
WHAT nicer place to spend Saint Patrick’s Day than Blackrock, especially on a fine day. That is something that the organisers have managed to conspire with the Weather Gods to get right since the village’s national feast day parade was initiated five years ago. The crowds have come out in huge numbers, and for all concerned the parade has been a great occasion to get out and mingle and meet with people and put the winter behind them and look forward to the longer and hopefully better and sunnier days.
Five years ago when the parade was first held it was like a tonic for all who were there after enduring such a tough spell of weather.
Since then all have been encouraged to return to the village on Saint Patrick’s Day and the event has never failed to lift the spirits of all concerned on the day. Of course, the organisers don’t wish to tempt fate, with the one thing they fervently wish for is that the weather remains clement.
The organisers have done their best with limited resources and indeed support to make the parade as attractive and appealing to a wide audience. They have been handicapped by a limited budget to provide music and draw bands to take part. But all the while they are trying to make the parade more of a spectacle and to lift the atmosphere, while enjoying the goodwill and support of local organisations, clubs and businesses who have faithfully participated in the parade and freely given their time to create enjoyment for those in the community and much further afield, as the drawing power of the parade has spread. Still the organisers refuse to sit on their laurels, and have struck upon the idea of a theme for the parade to add a new dimension and lustre to the event and to raise the overall enjoyment for those taking part and on a wider level for onlookers.
This year the parade is dedicated to “Great Irish Lives” offering vast scope for the creation of floats and making up and dressing entries for the parade. The concept is simple a spokesman told: “It is to encourage participants to be imaginative and entertain.” The group who inaugurated the event in the village definitely read the pulse and the desire and support there was within the village and further afield for a parade.
The village is a perfect location with an ideal vantage point to view the event with the promenade wall running the length of the Main Street where the crowd gather. It is also an intimate setting with the spectators close to the participants as they line up on either side of the street, which is conducive to a festive interaction between onlookers and those in the parade.
The beautiful scenic background of the Cooley Mountains and Dundalk Bay serves to enhance the experience for all on what after all is the one day in the year when all want to be Irish and join in the annual celebrations. The village is quite unique in this respect, and there is much more to enjoy before and after the parade with an array of top class restaurants, cafés and hostelries serving wonderful food and refreshments . You can sit down and relax and meet friends and acquaintances that you might not have seen in a while.
The parade is due to start at 3.30pm, with participants asked to assemble at Cocklehill beforehand.