Vibrant green flooded South Boston’s streets as over one million people gathered for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. People lined up and down the barricades eagerly awaiting for the elaborate floats, bagpipers, and marchers to pass by. 

As soon as the Boston Police Gaelic Column of Pipes and Drums started playing up West Broadway, the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. The parade started at Broadway Station and continued through South Boston, ending at Andrew Square, celebrating both St. Patrick’s Day and Evacuation Day. Later, when music came down the streets for the performers of the Woods School of Irish Dance, people joined in the dancing while watching.

Two of the marchers, Richard Howell and Andrew Wilsack from Lexington, were there as reenactors representing the Lexington Minutemen from the Lexington Battle Green. 

“[Lexington] is where it all began,” Wilsack said. “Our 250th anniversary is going to fall on April 19,” he added, referring to the first armed conflict of the American Revolution in 1775.

Dating back to March 17, 1737, the St. Patrick’s Day parade first began as festivities for the Irish community. These festivities then moved to South Boston in 1901, where British troops evacuated on March 17, 1776. British Commander General William Howe failed to send troops to Dorchester Heights due to a snowstorm, and left Boston “fearing a brutal bombardment,” according to the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. 

People waved and cheered from apartments, on rooftops, or on their front steps further along the route. Some Massachusetts State Police rode on horses in the parade and paused to offer kids the chance to pet the horses. Green, white, and orange confetti fluttered in the air, and some people blew bubbles over the parade. An Irish flag was present in every direction.

Veronica Ngin, one of the many people in the crowd, said it was her first time at the parade. 

“It’s very chaotic, I heard last year it was a mess,” Ngin said. “We were nervous, but it seems to be fun.” 

The parade started at 11:30 a.m. this year, as opposed to 1 p.m. in year’s past, as a way to be more proactive about alcohol consumption and crowd management. The Boston Police Department seized piles of BORGs, the acronym for “blackout rage gallons,” which are plastic gallon jugs filled with a combination of water, alcohol, and other flavoring.

According to the Prevention Partners of Northern Middlesex, the average person consumes 4.2 drinks on St. Patrick’s Day. On Sunday, alcohol stores closed at 4 p.m. and bars closed at 7 p.m. in South Boston. Restaurants also closed at 7:30 p.m.

“I think regardless, everyone is going to be a little blacked out,” Lazuli Cole, another attendee, said. Among the festive decorations in and around the parade, remnants of bottles, cans, and discarded accessories also covered the streets.

Many people dressed from head to toe in green ranging from hats, beads, sunglasses, and more. Others put on green makeup, wore green hats and wigs, and even Celtic’s gear.

“It’s a little less crazy than last year, which is a good thing,” Zach Macleod said, who works with a company every year to sell merchandise and novelties. “Last year was pretty hectic, a lot of people, a lot of danger.” 

Macleod noted how the demographic of the crowd includes a lot of college kids. 

“I think it’s a great turnout,” he added. “It’s been a lot of fun … a lot of good families, good old classic Boston.”