Downtown South Bend St. Patrick's Day Parade returns for its 25th year this weekend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- This week, South Bend will turn green as the city celebrates the 25th annual St. Patrick's Day parade.

The parade will kick off at 11 a.m. on Saturday, starting at Jefferson Boulevard and Notre Dame Avenue, making its way west and ending on Niles Avenue toward Washington Street. With thousands expected to attend, organizers remind visitors to plan ahead for parking and road closures.

Executive Director for Downtown South Bend Willow Wetherall says they're trying to keep street closures minimal but encourage people to allow extra time to get to their favorite viewing spot.

Free parking will be available in city garages and surface lots of downtown.

A fan favorite is making a return after six years. The St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl, with 15 local establishments participating and a shuttle service to make sure people have a designated driver.

"I don't know how to describe my enthusiasm for parades, and it's like you're in the parade. You're seeing, like little kids eyes light up. Last year we had somebody in this, like, fantastic leprechaun costume, and the amount of, like, high fives and fist bumps and smiles, it's just such a good feeling. And I love seeing like, all ages, all different, you know, families and friends," Wetherall said.

Wetherall also says there are not a lot of events in South Bend that have this kind of longevity.

"I think what makes it really special is people have just embraced this holiday. And I, you know, it's a day where, like, everybody gets to be Irish. And I think there's, there's a rich, like, history here, but, you know, we have a lot of different, like, you know, ethnic groups that have settled in South Bend and rich history, but today is like, celebration of Irish culture. There's just, I don't know it's the culture is beautiful, the music's beautiful, the dancing, like the food, the drinks, all of it. It's just a really easy and like welcoming experience for people, like, even if you're not Irish, for a day, like, just getting to be kind of welcomed into that culture,"