Media legend Monica Pearson has been named the 2024 ceremonial grand marshal for this Saturday’s Atlanta St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Previous grand marshals include Rep. John Lewis, Q99.7 hosts Bert Weiss and Kristin Klingshirn, and former Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed.
Pearson, the first Black woman in Atlanta to anchor the evening news at WSB-TV, now hosts an interview show on Peachtree TV and a separate interview show for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on ajc.com and the AJC app.
This will be the 140th annual parade in Atlanta, started in 1858 by the Hibernian Benevolent Society, honoring the traditions of the city’s Irish culture and history.
The parade this year is expected to include more than 3,000 participants and will feature an array of floats, bands, bagpipe and drum corps, children’s groups, Irish dancers and animal groups. There will also be the Big Idaho Potato Truck, which weighs more than four tons.
The parade will begin at noon at the intersection of Peachtree and 15th streets and conclude at Peachtree and 5th Street at about 1:30 p.m.
“It is an honor and a humbling experience to be selected as Grand Marshal of the 2024 Atlanta St. Patrick’s Parade,” Pearson said in a press release. “As the engine behind the parade, I must commend [parade organizers] Irish Network Atlanta for bringing such cultural diversity to this time-honored tradition celebrating Atlanta’s rich Irish heritage.”
Another parade special guest will be retired Irish soccer player Niall Quinn, an Irish sports legend who is the country’s second highest goal scorer of all time and an inductee into the Hall of Fame at Manchester City and Sunderland AFC.
Colony Square, at the beginning of the parade route, will also hold the Luck of the Square festival, which will begin at 1 p.m. with live music, beer and food. And there will be a Shamrock Stroll Weekend Bar Crawl starting at Brewdog Atlanta at 112 Krog St.
And just before the parade begins, there will be the annual “Brave the Shave” head-shaving challenge held by The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the official charitable partner of the parade. Sponsored individuals will shave their heads for childhood cancer awareness, a tradition that started on St. Patrick’s Day more than 20 years ago.
According to the American Community Survey in 2022, 8.6% of Georgians reported having either Irish or Scottish heritage.
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