Hilton Head’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade returns this weekend after pandemic hiatus
The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Hilton Head Island is back!
The parade will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday on Pope Avenue, according to event organizers.
The parade was canceled last year and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers instead held a boat parade on Broad Creek in 2021.
This year’s event “signifies that we’re back, we’re good,” said Alan Perry, a parade co-chair, in a recent phone call.
It’s a return to normalcy, Perry said, and a celebration of spring on Hilton Head.
Aside from the traditional parade, he added, this year’s itinerary also includes a free boat parade on Saturday at 11 a.m. The boat parade will start at the bottom of Broad Creek, near Buck Island, and travel to Shelter Cove.
Event organizers also are hosting a free Irish music concert Saturday at the Lowcountry Celebration Park from 4 to 7 p.m. The outdoor concert will feature The Fenian Sons, a Boston Irish rock band; the Boston Police Gaelic Column of Pipes and Drums; and the NYPD Emerald Society Pipe & Drum Band.
Parade details
The Sunday parade on Pope Avenue will start near Coligny Circle (across from Lagoon Road) then head closer to Sea Pines Circle. The parade will turn left toward Office Park Road and end close to Park Plaza.
Facebook says that 1,700 users have marked themselves as being interested in the parade.
“The Breeze” trolley service on Hilton Head has offered to run one-way trips for parade attendees on Sunday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., picking people up at the University of South Carolina Beaufort’s Hilton Head campus and dropping them off at a spot near the Lowcountry Celebration Park, according to event organizers.
Gloria and Allan LaCoe, who were named Grand Marshals of the canceled 2020 parade, will be Grand Marshals of the 2022 parade, Perry said. The LaCoes likely are best known for helping to establish the annual Thanksgiving community dinner at Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks.
Due to COVID-19 and safety concerns, meanwhile, parade participants will not be allowed to throw candy, beads or other objects to onlookers.
Parade participants also cannot campaign or use political or “controversial” messaging, according to event organizers.
“Seated official representatives elected by the people are permitted in the parade and are by invitation only,” the parade’s website says.
Perry said the parade typically invites politicians that represent Hilton Head to participate in the event, among others.
He added that parade organizers do not have an official list of controversial messages but could make a day-of decision that something on a float is not appropriate for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
Savannah parade also returns
The popular St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Savannah will kick off at 10:15 a.m. Thursday.
The celebration is among the largest in the country, regularly drawing half a million visitors to the Hostess City, according to previous reporting from The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
The parade route and event details can be found online: bit.ly/SavannahParade
COVID-19 case trends
Following a devastating surge of omicron infections in January, COVID-19 case trends this month have continued to improve in Beaufort County, state data show.
The county’s seven-day average of newly confirmed cases, as of Thursday, was seven infections per day.
Two weeks ago, that average was 30 cases per day.
Health officials are continuing to urge residents to get vaccinated and boosted, warning that other coronavirus variants will likely develop in the future and spread across the country.
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 12:14 PM.
