Organizers of the Bayside Saint Patrick’s Day Parade announced on Monday, Jan. 25, that the annual event has been canceled for the second year in a row.
In a letter posted on the parade’s official Facebook page, the organizers said that the event scheduled for March 27, 2021, would not be moving forward “due to the continuing COVID-19 virus situation.” Back in 2020, the parade committee canceled what would have been the third annual event amongst growing coronavirus concerns in the city.
“As organizers of the parade, we feel morally obliged to avoid any chance of endangering our families, friends, guests and the community at large by continuing with plans for this year’s parade. We look forward, instead, to marching again on March 26, 2022,” said the organizers in the letter.
The parade committee said that this year’s Grand Marshall Eileen Flannelly Mackell would maintain her role during the 2022 parade as would aides Tommy Mulvihill, Joe Donovan, John Golden, Tom Golden and Father Chris Henue. Additionally, the March 2022 parade would continue to honor the memory of Phil Brady, an aide to the grand marshal in 2019.
“Let us also keep in mind and look to support all the local businesses that helped keep our parade going,” the committee said. “And please remember and pray for all our first responders and essential workers, many of whom serve on our committee, and to those in our community who lost their lives to COVID-19, may they stay in our hearts forever.”
The first-ever parade hit the streets of Bayside in 2018 to celebrate the neighborhood’s Irish community and traditions.
