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The two-hour St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2.0 meandered through downtown streets Sunday as onlookers and more than 4,000 participants painted Toronto green.
Thousands lined the streets for the first major parade since the city was plunged into lockdown two years ago.
Wearing a green and horned Viking tuque, Peter Keohane, originally from Dublin, said it was “fantastic” to be out at the parade with his daughter, Niahm.
“We’ve missed this for the last two years,” said Keohane. “Its great, it is our day to take back Toronto for the Irish people.”
At Yonge and Bloor Sts., Kristy Kennington and her two little daughters — Rory and Addison — were getting excited and splashing in a puddle as they heard the music in the distance.
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“Here come the horses,” said Kristy to her daughters, as members of the Toronto Police mounted unit rode by.
Noting two years had passed before they could celebrate on the parade route, “we are just happy to be here,” said Kennington.
Lori Morgan, who was out to watch the parade with her husband, Dwayne, and her three children, said she was so excited, she circled the date on her calendar.
“It’s the first time being at the parade,” said Lori.
Dwayne summed things up by saying “it’s the sunshine, and hopefully you can see that rainbow.”
And Toronto’s St. Patrick’s Day parade couldn’t be complete without the unofficial octogenarian grand marshal, Paschal Brogan, who led a raucous Western University marching band.