Holyoke Saint Patrick's Day Parade

Then-Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy in attendance at the 1958 Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade, receiving an honor as an "outstanding American of Irish parentage" from parade committee President James F. Millane, on the lawn of the Holyoke City Hall.[3] Following Kennedy's assassination, the award was renamed the "John F. Kennedy National Award" in his honor.[4]

Drawing on the Irish heritage of Holyoke, in its earliest days known as "Ireland Parish", the inaugural Saint Patrick's Day Parade was hosted on March 16, 1952, after a group of local businessmen met at the local Brian Boru Club and proposed the idea. Since that time the Holyoke Saint Patrick's Parade Committee which has since grown to more than 100 people and presents multiple awards to distinguished citizens every year.[5]

As with the United States at-large, the parade has been widely participated in by people both of Irish and non-Irish heritage alike,[6] and has come to be a reflection of Holyoke's syncretic culture, an example being local vendors selling such combinations as Café con leche with Irish soda bread, and wide variety of bands participating from all over the country, including but not limited to, the Aqua String Band, the Hawthorne Callaberos, and the Tian Guo Marching Band.[7][8][9] Citing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, in 2020 the parade and several associated events were cancelled for the first time in its 68 year run.[10]

Parade Spectator Estimates By Year (1952–Present)

Since its inaugural event in 1952, the parade has grown substantially; while the first parade saw around an estimated 25,000 spectators, in recent years the estimated number of spectator's has exceeding 400,000, approximately ten times the population of Holyoke as of the most recent census.[11][21] The event, considered as much a regional as local venue, attracts many spectators from surrounding states and even Ireland itself in recent years. In 2011 the UMass Donahue Institute estimated the parade brought in $20 million annually to the local economy, through its participants and spectators.[22]

Robert Barrett Jr., president of the Holyoke Water Power Company and a recipient of the parade's Citizenship Award, tips his hat to spectators in the 1969 parade

Each year since its first iteration, the parade has had a parade president and grand marshal; in 1955 the first Colleen was chosen and given her own court and throne. Over the years a number of other awards have been created, including the Thomas Rohan Award (1957), named for the first grand marshall, for citizens contributing outstanding work to the parade; the John F. Kennedy Award (1958), named for its inaugural recipient, has been given to an "Outstanding American of Irish Descent" each year since that time and has included nationally known singers, actors, athletes, writers, an astronaut, mayors of Boston, several governors, senators, and Speakers of the House. Additional awards include the Citizenship Award (1966) honoring those of non-Irish descent who have made substantial contributions to the parade, the George E. O’Connell Award (1963) to members of the parade committee who have made longstanding efforts to fundraising, the Daniel J. Gallivan Award (1972) for others who have made significant contributions to the parade who do not reside in Holyoke, and the Ambassador Award (1992) to those who promote international ties between the United States and Ireland.[23]

The parade also enjoys an audience beyond its participants, with more than 1.2 million viewers watching over the channel and online streams of local PBS affiliate WGBY, which broadcast it every year from 2001 through 2018.[25][26] WWLP resumed as the broadcaster of the parade in 2019 through its CW channel, and also included a livestream. Other local media outlets including WGGB-TV and the Springfield Republican also cover the event.

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  Various scenes of the Parade, 1973
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  Flag carrying officers of the Holyoke Police Dept. leading the Saint Patrick's Parade, 2019
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  Parade floats, including the Peter Pan parade bus, move toward downtown on Beech Street
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  The Caledonian Pipe Band performing in the parade, preceding the Grand Marshall's party

• History of the Irish in Holyoke
• Holyoke Caledonian Pipe Band, regular feature in the parade since the first and oldest continuously operating pipe band in North America
• Saint Patrick's Day

• Blais, Madelaine (March 26, 1995). "The Queen of the Green". The New York Times Magazine. pp. 58–63.
• Gold, Catherine Dower (2001). Fifty Years of Marching Together 1952-2001: A Social History of the St. Patrick's Committee of Holyoke, Massachusetts Parade. Westhampton, Mass.: Edgar C. Alward & Jean A. Alward; Esparto Press.
• Past Parades (1952–2001) (PDF) (Report). Holyoke St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee. 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 24, 2019.
• Wong, Hinlan; Vaisanen, Raija (February 2012). Economic Contribution Analysis of the 2011 Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade (PDF) (Report). UMass Donahue Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-02-20.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Holyoke Saint Patrick's Day Parade.

External audio
Holyoke in Green, 1:50, song by John Quinn, W.G. Records, circa 1970
Queen of the Green, 3:11, song by Edwin Thaute, performed by John Quinn, W.G. Records, circa 1970

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

St. Patrick's Day Parade in Holyoke, Mass. Congressional Record: March 17, 1976

• Official website, Holyoke St. Patrick's Committee
• WGBY Official Stream, WGBY-57 PBS Springfield

• Holyoke St Patrick's Parade: Behind the Scenes, WGBY video chronicling setup of parade in 2010