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Everything will be shamrocks, leprechauns, and corned beef and cabbage when Kansas Citians celebrate the Irish during the city’s 50th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held Friday, March 17 at 11 a.m.
The action begins at Linwood and Broadway, then proceeds south along Broadway to 43rd Street. You can view a map of the 2023 Kansas City St. Patrick's Day Parade route here >>
The Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day Parade is one of the largest in the country and features 100s of floats, food trucks and vendors, live music, and great attendance rates. On average, 200,000 spectators attend the festivities and the parade ranks among the top 10 St. Patrick’s Day parades in the country!
This year’s theme is ‘23 in KC: Our Irish Ancestry. We can’t wait to see how the entries will have their floats decorated!
This year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade Grand Marshal is Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission. Nelson promotes Kansas City on a local and national level to attract, retain and facilitate both organizations and sports events in our great city.
In fact, through her work, she has landed on numerous “Best of” and “Top” lists, including the 2020 Kansas City Star’s 50 Most Influential People in Kansas City Sports History list.
Each year the Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee bestows the honor of Grand Marshal upon one lucky person with great enthusiasm for our city, someone who exudes the “spirit of the Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day Parade.”
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If you do plan to be out and about in the Midtown - Westport area the day of the parade, it’s important to note some roads will close as early as 8:15 a.m. on parade day.
Kansas City Missouri police advise residents that Broadway Boulevard will be closed from 31st Street to 47th Street starting at 9 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day and crossing Broadway is discouraged after that time.
The parade staging area, located on Linwood Boulevard from Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue and Broadway Boulevard from 31st Street to Linwood Boulevard will close beginning at 8:15 a.m. and remain closed until the end of the parade.
Further, if you have a vehicle parked in any of the listed areas above, Kansas City Police have stated it must be moved before 4 a.m. Friday morning.
While it may seem everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, Kansas City is home to an estimated 250,000 residents who say they are of true Irish descent. And even though we often hear of Irish immigrants who settled in Boston, New York or Chicago, from the late 1800s through the early 1900s, Kansas City housed the second largest group of Irish immigrants throughout the state of Missouri. Much of our city’s flourishing culture can be traced back to these Irish immigrants.
In fact, one of the oldest Irish businesses in America is right here in Kansas City! The Flavin family, from County Kerry Ireland, opened Browne’s Irish Marketplace, a small grocery store, in the front room of their Kansas City home back in 1887. The well-known store is still open today, run by Kerry Browne, a fourth-generation Flavin Family.
As Kansas City’s hometown PEO for more than 30 years, we are proud to celebrate our city’s rich Irish heritage. From all of us at Axcet, whether you’re Irish, or just Irish for a day, we wish you a happy (and safe) St. Patrick’s Day.
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