SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) — Bagpipes will be skirling, Irish step dancers will be dancing and maybe even leprechauns will be leaping along San Francisco’s Market Street Saturday in the 171st Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
The parade will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Second Street and Market Street, continuing along Market Street to the reviewing stand at Civic Center Plaza. Groups from throughout the Bay Area’s Irish community including schools and labor unions, as well as the San Francisco police and fire departments, will march.
There are no guarantees about the leprechauns, but those bagpipes will definitely skirl – that’s the shrill sound made by the bagpipes’ chanter – and also howl, keen, pipe and wail.
The day’s celebrations begin at 9 a.m. with mass at St. Patrick’s Church, 756 Mission Street. The Celtic Voices Adult and Youth Choirs will sing at the mass.
The post-parade party will be at the United Irish Cultural Center at 2700 45th Avenue, with food, Irish dancing, four bars, and live Irish music. Starting at 9 a.m., Second Street will be closed between Brannan and Market streets for parade formation, according to SFMTA.
Starting at 10:30 a.m., Mission Street will be closed to automobiles between Ninth and Steuart to accommodate Muni reroutes.
Starting at 11 a.m., these streets will be closed for the parade route:
- Market Street between Second Street and McAllister
- McAllister between Market and Polk
- Polk between McAllister and Hayes All streets will reopen after the parade is cleared and streets are cleaned at approximately 4 p.m.
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