The St. Pat’s for All Parade will return to Sunnyside and Woodside on March 1 for its 27th annual celebration of inclusivity and Irish heritage.
The parade is the largest event in Sunnyside and will see dozens of Irish cultural groups, LGBT organizations, music groups, marching bands, and groups representing cultures from around the world take to Skillman Avenue on Sunday, March 1.
Founded as a protest against the exclusion of LGBTQ groups from the Manhattan St. Patrick’s Day Parade, St. Pat’s for All has now evolved into a massive neighborhood celebration. Last year’s parade drew thousands of people to Skillman Avenue, with a record number of over 110 participating groups marching down the thoroughfare.
The 2026 parade will take off from the intersection of Skillman Avenue and 43rd Street at 1 p.m. before proceeding down Skillman and concluding at 58th Street and Woodside Avenue.
St. Pat’s for All has named three grand marshalls for the upcoming parade, including “Star Trek” actress Kate Mulgrew and Irish Repretory Theatre co-founders Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O’Reilly.
The event will kick off with music, speeches and traditional dancing during a pre-parade rally near Skillman and 43rd Street at noon.
A number of Irish and American politicians are scheduled to speak at the rally, including New York State Attorney General Letitia James, Consul General of Ireland Gerald Angley and Eamon Gilmore, a former leader of the Irish Labour Party and a former representative in Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament).
Colum Eastwood, a Member of Parliament based in Derry City in Northern Ireland, and Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Publisher of The Irish Echo newspaper, will also speak at the pre-parade rally.
Last year’s rally saw dozens of elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, then-Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, then-mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and a number of local Council Members speak out against the Trump Administration over its attacks on DEI and the trans community.
Archley Prudent, co-chair of St. Pat’s for All, told QNS last year that the popular annual event has taken on a “different shape” since its foundation, evolving into a celebration of Queens and Sunnyside. Although the parade remains a protest event at heart, it also strives to celebrate diversity and welcome groups from all backgrounds and ethnicities, Prudent added.
In a statement issued ahead of the 2026 event, Prudent said the parade aims to spread the message that “everyone belongs.”
“The St. Pat’s for All Parade is about honoring Irish culture while affirming a simple and powerful message,” Prudent said in a statement.
