St Patricks Day Parade and Family Day

First published on 8 Mar 2010. Updated on 5 Apr 2011.

On Sunday 21 March, Irish culture enthusiasts will take to the streets of Sydney's CBD for the annual parade and family day. It's 200 years since the first Sydney St Patrick's Day was celebrated and this year more than 100,000 Sydneysiders are expected to join in the bicentenary celebrations.

Commencing at midday and led by ‘St Patrick', an annually elected representative of the Irish community, the parade begins on the corner of George and Bathurst Streets and ends at Hyde Park near St James. Expect a sea of enthusiastic green Gaelics vying for the ‘Float of the Year' title.

A day of family fun in Hyde Park will follow the parade. Irish songstress Eleanor McEvoy and U2 cover band Achtung Baby will perform on the main stage and there will be plenty of goodies for the kiddies including storytelling, Bodhran (drum) workshops and all the classic kid capers such as face painting, jumping castles, clowns and music.

St Patrick’s Day is held on Wednesday 17 March, and is the most celebrated national holiday in the world. And this year is the 200th anniversary of St Patrick’s Day celebrations in NSW, to be sure. The good folk at Guinness are helping people get into the spirit of the worldwide festivities with the Perfect Pint Finder application and the Guinness Down Under Facebook page, where you can track down the festivities in your area.

We can already hear the ‘Danny Boy' melody and feel that cold, velvety Guinness sliding down our throats...