st Patrick’s Day PARADe organised by The Swedish irish society
In almost every town in Ireland, the national day, St Patrick’s Day (17th March), is celebrated with a parade. Thanks to a long history of significant Irish emigration, a good deal of the world’s cities now also celebrate this. In some places you go to only watch the parade, but in Sweden you get to be the parade! The Stockholm parade is organised by The Swedish Irish Society and takes place on the weekend closest to the 17th. Come join in as we walk through Stockholm putting a smile on people’s faces! This years parade which was postponed as scheduled to be on Saturday the 14th March. Information on what had been planned can be found here: St. Patrick's Parade 2020. The below information therefore celebrates our parade from 2019!
The 2019 Stockholm parade – Saturday 16th March
Thanks to Kazi Ushioda, Mattias Nilsson -Madcap Piktures, Fredrik Sjöström and Adrià Cruz for the wonderful pictures!
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See the 2019 parade in action!
A video of the parade departing Kungstradgården was recorded independently and published publicly on YouTube by Our Man in Stockholm
What happened at the 2019 parade!
At 13.00 the parade departed. We walked towards Humlegården before coming back down to Kungsträdgården for the concert of the day. St Patrick led the parade along side The Irish Ambassador to Sweden, the invited IUNVA Pipe Band (Irish United Nations Veteran Association), as always the impressive Stockholm Pipe Band, majestic wolfhounds from Greirish, some beautiful Connemara ponies, Irish terriers, Irish Glen of Imaal terriers, a giant snake (to symbolise the ones St Patrick banished from Ireland, according to legend), a rainbow leading to a pot of gold (associated with the mythical Irish creatures, leprechauns), and thousands of happy people! Groups such as Spuds and Sill drama group, the Irish Chamber of Commerce in Sweden and the Stockholm Gaels Gaelic football club participated under their banners.
Concert
On arrival back to Kungsträdgården there was a celebration of Irish music and dance featuring
Fada – Kieran “Loughy” O’Loughlin (Biography here) and Brian Friel.
The Stockholm Set Dancers – led by Eoin Sheedy
Singer Ciara Moran
Aingeala de Búrca on fiddle
Singer Grace Bermingham
The “Wirströms Session Players”
Thanks to all the participating artists!
Organisers
The parade is organised annually by volunteers from the Swedish Irish Society with support from the Irish Embassy in Sweden and with generous sponsorship from businesses in the community.
- The parade is organised every year completely by volunteers, and as it has grown to an event that attracts over 2,000 people, we need all the help we can get! Got a little bit of time and energy to spare? Please get in touch at info@swedishirish.com. No special skills are needed for the majority of tasks. In return you’ll meet some nice people and be part of something special.
- There is one thing you can definitely do to help: Renew your membership (or join up)! This is really important as without a strong society we cannot continue to organise the parade. It’s also a very practical way to show your appreciation. Read how you can renew/join.
And Who was this St Patrick fellow?
St Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. He must have had the gift of the gab (as we say about persuasive people who can spin a good tale) as the conversion happened remarkably quickly and peacefully. He is also credited with banishing snakes from Ireland, for which we are eternally grateful. :)
Supported by
Special thanks to sponsors of the 2019 parade
O’Dwyers Goldsmith (Liljeholmen, Stockholm)
Michael O‘Dwyer Goldsmith. Originally from Ireland and now based in Liljeholmen, Stockholm. If you’re in the market for anything remotely sparkling, be sure and check them out:
“Michael O’Dwyer Goldsmiths love handcrafting the perfect piece of jewellery for you. We are not only a business, for us jewellery making is a passion. We love to see our customers happy and smiling when they leave us and look forward to seeing them when they return.”
The Irish Chamber of Commerce in Sweden
The Irish Chamber of Commerce in Sweden is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to its Members. We are a professional community with the objective to promote and strengthen commercial collaboration, development and exchange between Swedish and Irish businesses.
Tourism Ireland provides information on Ireland as a holiday destination. Check out great holiday ideas and deals on Ireland.com.