City will stake its claim for shortest St. Patty’s Day Parade

Looking to celebrate St. Patrick’s day a couple days early?

Have you always dreamed of watching a St. Patrick’s Day Parade but are afraid of getting a bad seat? Look no further than Boulder’s iconic World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade, hosted by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows’ Boulder Lodge No. 9 at noon today.

Spanning the distance of a single block, the parade will begin on 16th Street and end on Spruce Street, so spectators need only turn their head to witness the entire procession.

The parade returns this year after a successful post- COVID- 19 relaunch in 2021, after the Independent Order of Odd Fellows took over the event’s organization.

The shuttering of former host Conor O’neill’s pub in 2017 left many longtime parade- goers wondering if the tradition would continue, but it seems the event is stronger than ever.

Although many St. Patrick’s day parades across the globe have been dubbed the largest or the longest, there is no official claim to the “World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade” — yet.

President of the Odd Fellows, Jim Carr, said next year, Boulder will attempt to claim that title.

“We are planning to invite the Guinness Book of World Records to come out and hopefully break the record,” said Carr. “We looked it up, and nobody has the title of ‘ World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade,’ so we’re hoping that can be us.”

As for this year, revelers can look forward to an entire block’s worth of Irish entertainment. The parade will feature traditional Irish dancing, bagpipers, drums, cruiser bikes, Irish hounds, hula dancers and, perhaps, asurprise appearance by none other than longtime Boulderite Gov. Jared Polis.

“Our aim is that this year, he’ll be able to give the world’s shortest political speech,” Carr said, joking.

Spectators can also look forward to a performance by the famed Paddy O’furniture Lawn Chair Drill Team which makes an appearance just once a year at the parade to showcase its lawn- chair dancing talents.

In the early years of the parade, attendees set the precedent that no matter the weather, the show would go on.

Mary Rios, longtime parade coordinator and participant, has been involved with the parade since its inception nearly 20 years ago.

“One year in the early 2000s, we had a huge storm and got absolutely dumped on,” Rios said. “We all had shown up, and Conor O’neill’s ( staff) told us, ‘ We’re not going to do the parade.’ And guess what? All the participants got out shovels and shoveled the road and did the parade anyway.”