A marcher at the 2016 Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day Parade. Photo by Kim Welsh.

Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Parade unveils new route

The Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Parade has revealed the new route for this year’s celebration, which is slated to take over—you guessed it—the Irish Channel on Saturday, March 11.

The parade, now in its 70th year, will begin at Jefferson Avenue and Magazine Street. It will then roll down Magazine Street before taking a right on Jackson Avenue, where it will disband after a few blocks.

NOLA.com reports that route has now been extended after years of working around the various road construction projects that have taken over Uptown. This year’s parade is expected to feature 1,400 marchers and approximately 20 floats.

Elizabeth “Betty” Clark will reigns as Queen, with Alexis Brinson, Chase Lynn Jackson, Victoria Lee, Sandra “Sadie” Murphy and Abbigale Grace O’Brien joining her as maids. Thomas “Tommy” Patrick O’Brien—a 20-year member of the club—will serve as Grand Marshall, while William “Billy” Dorsey Lyons will be the 2017 Man of the Year.

The Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Parade festivities will kick off at noon with a Mass at St. Mary’s Assumption Church. Afterwards, members of the club will be bused to the parade route, where they will begin rolling at 1:30pm.

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