Savannah’s Irish blessing: What to know about 2026 St. Patrick’s Day Parade
SAVANNAH — Ask residents of this coastal Georgia town their favorite holiday, and even gift-loving small children have been known to give a surprising answer: St. Patrick’s Day.
Savannah is home to either the second- or third-largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the United States, rivaling Irish heritage celebrations in New York and Chicago. The annual march, which winds 3 miles through the city’s picturesque historic district, draws tens of thousands of revelers and blends the best parts of a family reunion and football tailgate.
The celebration launched with the greening of the waters of the iconic Forsyth Park fountain on March 5, continues through the downtown parade on March 17, the day honoring the fifth-century Christian missionary known as “the apostle of Ireland.”
Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, put on by a committee of local male residents, dates to 1824, when a local Irish society, the Hibernians, invited the public to join them for a procession and reception for a charismatic Roman Catholic bishop from Charleston, South Carolina.
The family-friendly party takes over the city’s historic district with a march featuring bands, troops, floats and Alee Shriner Clubs snaking along the route.
Here’s all you need to know about the 2026 parade:
Why is Savannah an Irish American enclave?
The port city was a destination for Irish immigrants almost from its founding. Georgia’s second governor, Henry Ellis, was Irish, and Savannah’s Irish population grew quickly during Colonial times. Another wave of Irish arrived in the 1840s and 1850s during the potato famine, with a strong concentration of immigrants from County Wexford, on Ireland’s southwestern tip. Savannah continued to attract Irish laborers as the city’s growth surged during Reconstruction and the Industrial Revolution.
The Hibernians formed in 1812 to assist poor Irish laborers coming to America. The group’s members included Catholics and Protestants and remains active today. The Hibernians’ annual dinner is the evening of March 17 and typically attracts high-profile speakers, including at least one sitting president — Jimmy Carter in 1978.
Who has a parade on a Tuesday?
The parade is part of the religious observance of the feast day of St. Patrick, which is March 17. The only exception is when March 17 falls on a Sunday. Those years, the parade is held on March 16, as it was two years ago for the 200th anniversary.
The Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Committee has long ignored the occasional calls to move the parade to the weekend closest to the holiday. The parade became a custom in the 1800s when Savannah’s Irish families marched through downtown after feast day church services. Even today, the first parade-day event is an 8 a.m. Mass celebration at the Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the Roman Catholic church located along the parade route.
How big is the crowd?
Exaggerating the attendance is as much a Savannah St. Patrick’s Day tradition as green grits and whiskey-spiked coffee for breakfast. The 2024 200th anniversary parade saw what officials called “historic” crowds in the neighborhood of 250,000 celebrants.
Attendance is expected to be lower this year with a Tuesday parade. Locals’ participation likely won’t suffer, as Savannah schools always close for St. Patrick’s Day, as do many businesses, particularly those downtown.
Paradegoers pack the sidewalks on both sides of the lengthy route as well as the city’s six public squares that the march passes.
What’s the best advice for first-timers?
Plan ahead and set an alarm clock. The parade doesn’t start until 10:15 a.m. but veterans know the best viewing spots are claimed before sunrise. The prime real estate is in the squares located along the route, and tailgate tent cities go up shortly after the city government opens the squares at 6 a.m.
For those less inclined to wake early and jostle for space, bleacher seating is available for purchase at several points along the parade route, including along Bay Street, next to the Colonial Cemetery on Abercorn Street and in front of the Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist near Lafayette Square. Seating for large groups is also available and can accommodate groups up to 50 people.
What to bring to the parade?
You’ll want a lawn chair, water, snacks, sunscreen and bug spray. Adult beverages are allowed so long as the liquid is drank from a cup and not a can or bottle.
Coolers to keep food and drinks cold are permitted, although throwaway coolers, such as those made from plastic foam, are banned.
What to wear?
Layers of green. The long-range forecast calls for morning lows in the high 50s rising to the high 70s by midday. Sneakers or comfortable walking shoes are advised as attendees typically must walk several blocks — or more — from parking areas or drop-off spots to the parade route.
Sunglasses and hats are must-pack accessories. And donning beaded necklaces and other Irish “flair” items will make you look like a local.
What about parking?
The earlier you arrive, the closer to the parade route you can park. If you mosey in after sun up and you come across a spot that looks too good to be true, it probably is — follow all posted instructions, especially those forbidding cars along the inside of downtown squares. Firetrucks and other emergency vehicles with wide turning radiuses use the streets around these squares to respond to situations on parade day. You will be towed.
Municipal parking garages and surface lots are open, although those close to the parade route will be difficult to access after 8 a.m. as streets close down.
Ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft and shuttles operated by Chatham Area Transit run throughout the day and pick up and drop off passengers at designated points near the parade route.
What about when nature calls?
It’s too late to train your bladder for an all-day hold. Don’t relieve yourself in bushes or behind parked cars. Public urination offenses typically top the police arrest blotter each St. Patrick’s Day.
The city government rents hundreds of portable toilets and positions them on the street at several points near the parade route. There are also public restrooms at Forsyth Park, Ellis Square and the River Street Visitors Information Center.
Another option is a “pottywagon,” which is a truck bed or trailer-mounted outhouse parked near the parade route. These are not for general public use. You can ask, but be polite about it, and be sure to take “no” for an answer.
Who and what will you see in the parade?
The parade’s origins as a procession of Irish societies and families persist. The grand marshal, elected by the parade committee, leads the march. Behind him walk past grand marshals, a contingent of committee members, Irish families who trace their Savannah roots a century or more, and leaders of the many Irish societies, including the founding Hibernians.
Aside from the Savannah Irish, the parade lineup includes bagpipe bands from across the United States as well as from Ireland, fife and drum corps, high school marching bands, and even a few rock ‘n’ roll acts playing from floats. There are also dozens of commercial entries.
Savannah-area military installations, such as Fort Stewart, typically send troops to march. Every student from Benedictine Military School, a local boys high school, walks the route as well, their uniforms crisp and black shoes gleaming. Elected officials typically participate.
Bringing up the parade’s rear are a number of Shriner’s Club units, each with their own theme, from pirates to hillbillies to clowns to Keystone Kops. A crowd favorite is the minicar unit, with large men crammed into tricked-out go-karts spinning choreographed routines at most intersections along the route.
Who is the grand marshal and how is he chosen?
Marty Hogan, whose parents immigrated to New York City from Limerick and then to Savannah when he was a child, is the 2026 honoree.
Hogan owns a trucking business that specializes in moving cargo in and out of the Georgia Ports Authority’s Savannah terminals. He’s long been active in the parade committee, including a stint with the adjutant’s staff that handles parade-day operations and as a member of the executive committee.
Grand marshal is the aspiration of every longtime Savannah Irishman. Applicants must be at least 55 years old, male — the parade committee is for men only — and be able to trace ancestry to Ireland. Candidates spend decades building their profile through service to the parade committee, in Irish and Catholic societies such as the Knights of Columbus, and other community organizations.
The parade committee elects a new grand marshal every February in a festive, members-only election. The grand marshal presides over a series of events prior to the parade and is the committee’s formal spokesman. He works with the general chairman, who leads the parade’s executive committee and is the de facto director. Patrick Beytagh, who works in the local finance industry, is the 2026 general chairman.
About the Author
Adam Van Brimmer is a journalist who covers politics and Coastal Georgia news for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
