Courtesy of The Glenside St. Patrick’s Day Association:
The Glenside St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival was bigger and more exciting than we ever could have imagined! Many thousands of people lined the streets to celebrate, and the energy was absolutely electric.
Our grand marshal, Mrs. Rosemarie Timoney, was truly living in the moment—dancing and cheering the parade along. The Glenside Gardens float was a showstopper, and the performances by the Philadelphia Police & Fire Pipes and Drums and the Greater Kensington String Band were incredible. The love for Weldon Fire Company and the amazing energy from all the Irish dance groups made the parade unforgettable. And the live music across three stages during the festival kept the energy going all afternoon.
Our VIP Sponsor Party at Keswick Collective was equally amazing! We hosted around 100 sponsors and their guests in a lively lounge-style atmosphere where the Jameson was flowing and the Clean Plate Food Truck served up incredible food that everyone raved about. The Photo Booth was a hit, and the whole vibe made it the place to be when you weren’t outside at the festival!
Now that we’ve got this inaugural parade under our belts, we’re already looking at ways to make it even better next year—starting with more porta-potties and better trash removal to keep everything running smoothly.
On behalf of the entire parade committee, thank you to everyone who came out, participated, and sponsored—this wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support from our community. Thank you for making history with us—we can’t wait to do it again next year!
And if you didn’t get a chance to grab some of our merch, we’re hosting a pre-St. Paddy’s Day pop-up shop at O’Neill’s on Saturday, March 15 from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM with more of our parade merch available. See you there!
From committee member Jenifer Eyre:
This past weekend’s events started from a post-it note at a Greater Glenside Civic Association Meeting as a suggestion for how to bring together our community and leverage our strengths. Acknowledging the proud Irish heritage in the Glenside community and in myself, Noreen McAleer of Cummins School of Irish Dance, Jamey Piggott, President of the Greater Glenside Patriotic Association and I, a member of the Keswick Village Business Association, sat down together in January 2024 and started planning. To experience this dream becoming a reality with such success is beyond any expectations, but perhaps the most rewarding aspect of this journey has been working among our amazing committee—a group of caring, capable, fun folks with vast skill sets and connections. I’m having a blast!!
“I am so excited that we were able to throw Glenside the St. Patrick’s Day Parade it deserved,” committee member Tom Hendel said. “Huge thank you to all of the parade sponsors!”
The event also caught the attention of CBS News. Their video coverage is below:
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Photos: Glenside St. Patrick’s Day Association