Then-Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy in attendance at the 1958 Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade, receiving an honor as an "outstanding American of Irish parentage" from parade committee President James F. Millane, on the lawn of the Holyoke City Hall.[3] Following Kennedy's assassination, the award was renamed the "John F. Kennedy National Award" in his honor.[4]
Drawing on the Irish heritage of Holyoke, in its earliest days known as "Ireland Parish", the inaugural Saint Patrick's Day Parade was hosted on March 16, 1952, after a group of local businessmen met at the local Brian Boru Club and proposed the idea. Since that time the Holyoke Saint Patrick's Parade Committee which has since grown to more than 100 people and presents multiple awards to distinguished citizens every year.[5]
As with the United States at-large, the parade has been widely participated in by people both of Irish and non-Irish heritage alike,[6] and has come to be a reflection of Holyoke's syncretic culture, an example being local vendors selling such combinations as Café con leche with Irish soda bread, and wide variety of bands participating from all over the country, including but not limited to, the Aqua String Band, the Hawthorne Callaberos, and the Tian Guo Marching Band.[7][8][9] Citing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, in 2020 the parade and several associated events were cancelled for the first time in its 68 year run.[10] It went on hiatus the next year before it resumed in 2022.
Attendance
Parade Spectator Estimates By Year (1952–Present)
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Since its inaugural event in 1952, the parade has grown substantially; while the first parade saw around an estimated 25,000 spectators, in recent years the estimated number of spectator's has exceeding 400,000, approximately ten times the population of Holyoke as of the most recent census.[11][21] The event, considered as much a regional as local venue, attracts many spectators from surrounding states and even Ireland itself in recent years. In 2011 the UMass Donahue Institute estimated the parade brought in $20 million annually to the local economy, through its participants and spectators.[22]
Honorees
Robert Barrett Jr., president of the Holyoke Water Power Company and a recipient of the parade's Citizenship Award, tips his hat to spectators in the 1969 parade
Each year since its first iteration, the parade has had a parade president and grand marshal; in 1955 the first Colleen was chosen and given her own court and throne. Over the years a number of other awards have been created, including the Thomas Rohan Award (1957), named for the first grand marshall, for citizens contributing outstanding work to the parade; the John F. Kennedy Award (1958), named for its inaugural recipient, has been given to an "Outstanding American of Irish Descent" each year since that time and has included nationally known singers, actors, athletes, writers, an astronaut, mayors of Boston, several governors, senators, and Speakers of the House. Additional awards include the Citizenship Award (1966) honoring those of non-Irish descent who have made substantial contributions to the parade, the George E. O’Connell Award (1963) to members of the parade committee who have made longstanding efforts to fundraising, the Daniel J. Gallivan Award (1972) for others who have made significant contributions to the parade who do not reside in Holyoke, and the Ambassador Award (1992) to those who promote international ties between the United States and Ireland.[23]
The parade also enjoys an audience beyond its participants, with more than 1.2 million viewers watching over the channel and online streams of local PBS affiliate WGBY, which broadcast it every year from 2001 through 2018.[25][26]WWLP resumed as the broadcaster of the parade in 2019 through its CW channel, and also included a livestream. Other local media outlets including WGGB-TV and the Springfield Republican also cover the event.
Gallery
Various scenes of the Parade, 1973
Flag carrying officers of the Holyoke Police Dept. leading the Saint Patrick's Parade, 2019
Parade floats, including the Peter Pan parade bus, move toward downtown on Beech Street
The Caledonian Pipe Band performing in the parade, preceding the Grand Marshall's party
^1976 Congressional Record, Vol. 122, Page 6982 (March 17, 1976)Extensions of Remarks by Rep. Silvio O. Conte. Mr. Speaker, today, as the Irish- and as is popularly said, those who wish they were Irish-- celebrate the feast of the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, I salute the 25th anniversary of the Holyoke, Mass. St. Patrick's Day parade. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the Irish-American community in that city and around the country in this Bicentennial Year on the great contributions the Irish have made to the building of America. The Holyoke St. Patrick's Day parade is an event that annually draws throngs of hundreds of thousands of spectators to the city of Holyoke. Twenty-five years ago, on March 16, 1952, the first Holyoke St. Patrick's Day parade stepped off on High Street under the direction of parade committee officials, William Lunney, president; William P. Sullivan, vice president; Thomas Mulvihill, secretary; and Emmett J. Cauley, treasurer.
^ ab"Big Day in Holyoke". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. March 22, 1970. p. 1.
^Richard P. Mcbrien (13 October 2009). Lives of the Saints: From Mary and St. Francis of Assisi to John XXIII and Mother Teresa. HarperOne. ISBN9780061763656. Retrieved 13 November 2010. The most famous church in the United States is dedicated to him, Saint Patrick's in New York City. Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all ethnic backgrounds by the wearing of green and parades. His feast, which is on the General Roman Calendar, has been given as March 17 in liturgical calendars and martyrologies. The Church of England, the Episcopal Church in the USA, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America observe his feast on this day, and Saint Patrick is also commemorated on the Russian Orthodox calendar.
Rodriguez, Ivelisse (2019). Love War Stories. New York: Feminist Press at CUNY. p. 30. ISBN9781936932283. To this day, everyone in Holyoke still attends the Saint Patrick's Day parade. Can you imagine anything more absurd than a bunch of Puerto Ricans at a Saint Patty's Day parade?
Connors, Michael (March 10, 2020). "Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade canceled over coronavirus". Daily Hampshire Gazette. Northampton, Mass. This year's St. Patrick's Parade and Road Race were canceled by the city Tuesday amid growing concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus — the first time in history the parade has been called off, according to a top parade official.
^ ab"On Parade in Holyoke". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. March 17, 1952. p. 2.
^"Mr. Weatherman Smiles On Big, Colorful Holyoke St. Patrick's Day Parade". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. March 21, 1960. p. 1.
^"St. Patrick's Cheeks Nipped By Weatherman in Holyoke". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. March 22, 1965. p. 1.
^Perkins, Robert; Siteman, Linda (March 24, 1975). "200,000 View Holyoke Parade". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. p. 1.
^Lightstone, Helayne (March 24, 1980). "Irish strut their stuff; 'Sun of Erin' graces St. Patrick's parade". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. p. 1.
^Lauer, Martin J. (March 16, 1985). "St. Pat's parade crowds expected to brave wet, chill". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. p. 10H.
^Woodlief, Wayne (March 18, 1991). "Hopefuls join the show in Holyoke". Boston Herald. p. 9.
Blais, Madelaine (March 26, 1995). "The Queen of the Green". The New York Times Magazine. pp. 58–63.
Gold, Catherine Dower (2001). Fifty Years of Marching Together 1952-2001: A Social History of the St. Patrick's Committee of Holyoke, Massachusetts Parade. Westhampton, Mass.: Edgar C. Alward & Jean A. Alward; Esparto Press.
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