The 2024 St. Patrick’s Day/Evacuation Day Parade brought a sea of Irish green to South Boston on Sunday, March 17. With a crowd estimated to be over a million, it was the most people in attendance since before the COVID-19 pandemic. As the hundreds of floats and participants made their way down the 3.5 mile-long parade route, the energy of the crowds never died down. Behind the police barricades, thousands of inebriated college students, families, and tourists were constantly standing shoulder to shoulder. Following the parade, the city ordered all South Boston liquor stores to close at 4:00 p.m. and all South Boston bars to be empty by 7:30 p.m.
Take a look at some of the parade scenes that our staff photographers captured last week.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and city councilors celebrate the ribbon cutting of the 2024 South Boston Parade as confetti fills the air on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff)
A group of reenactors fire muskets during the 2024 St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff)
A man waves an Irish flag above his head during the parade on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Madla Walsh/ Beacon Staff)
A group of spectators celebrates during the parade on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff)
Spectators watch the parade from balconies on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff)
A painted green man draws the attention of teenage boys who holler at him on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Madla Walsh/ Beacon Staff)
Floats make their way down the parade route as thousands of spectators watch during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff)
People sitting on a bridge reach out their hands for a running parade goer to high five on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Madla Walsh/ Beacon Staff)
A boy jumps over a fence to enter the crowd of onlookers on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Madla Walsh/ Beacon Staff)
An Irish wolfhound walks along the parade route on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff)
The kids of the South Boston Squirt Hockey teams reach their hands out to people walking towards the parade on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Madla Walsh/ Beacon Staff)
A man dressed in green on a parade float celebrates with the crowd as he waves around a tube pumping bubbles into the air on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff)
Members of the U.S. Coast Guard walking in the parade on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff)
A person dressed as a clown entertains a group of college students along the parade route on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in South Boston. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff)
