Savannah’s internationally known St. Patrick’s Day Parade is yet another casualty of the continued coronavirus pandemic, according to an announcement by Savannah Mayor Van Johnson.
In an early decision, the mayor announced the popular festivities will not take place for the second year in a row. The festival was slated to attract hundreds of thousands to the Coastal Empire in March. Last year, the mayor was on the fence about holding the events until the last week before the holiday, which is March 17. Johnson, at the time, said he had to make the tough decision due to the beginning stages of the pandemic.
“People are really feeling this is a significant health challenge. Savannah is OK right now. We just want to make sure Savannah remains OK,” he said in March 2020.
Johnson said he spoke to health officials and local leaders before making the decision to cancel this year’s celebrations.
“I hoped and prayed that our situation might improve. But I think that with what we witnessed this holiday season, we put the health of our city and our citizens at risk. Therefore, I am recommending that we continue our moratorium on event permits issued by the city through the end of March 2021. This will, unfortunately, mean two straight years without our world-famous St. Patrick’s Day celebration,” Johnson said during the news conference.
The organizers of the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade issued a statement after the announcement Tuesday.
“We understand that the City of Savannah is not issuing any special event permits through March 2021. As a result, we will not have the 2021 Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade. While this is disappointing, we are confident in the City’s decision. Our top priority has always been to ensure the health, safety and welfare of parade participants and attendees,” read the statement.
Dozens of events were canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. This year, some organizers have set out to hold virtual events or have not yet announced their plans for upcoming annual happenings. The cancellation of Savannah’s famous St. Patrick’s Day event, which draws 500,000 revelers to the coastal city, will likely place yet another burden on the city financially. The event is a boon for hospitality and tourism in the area.
Johnson said Tuesday that if a statewide mask mandate had been in place and spectators’ behavior would align with social distancing protocol, the events could have taken place in 2021.
“Frankly speaking, without a statewide mask mandate, and with conflicting rules from our state that don’t require universal, science-driven precautions to be mandated by private businesses, we cannot do St. Patrick’s Day safely in its current form,” he said.
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