St. Patrick's Day Starts in Mount Holly
Published: Feb 25, 2007
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| A scene from the 2006 Mount Holly parade. |
The official date is March 17, but St. Patrick’s Day really begins in earnest Saturday in Mount Holly.
Like many other communities, the third annual Burlington County St. Patrick’s Day Parade is more than just a parade; it’s really a whole cluster of St. Pat’s events, including a fun run, a Mass, and the parade (the first St. Patrick’s Day parade in the Delaware Valley, for those of you who just can’t wait). But what really sets Mount Holly apart is the music—and lots of it.
In fact, Mount Holly’s parade committee has booked so many of the area’s top Irish bands for its post-parade party that you might be hard-pressed to find a band anywhere else in the area on that day. The lineup includes: the Mulligans, the Shantys, the Bare-Knuckled Boxers, the Birmingham Six (from Erie), Billy Briggs and Tom Glover, and the Bogside Rogues. So if you need a fix of Paddy rock, you just have to go to Mount Holly.
“I got one call (from a bar owner), saying, ‘What’s going on?’” says parade chairman Jim Logue, of the Major Tommy McGuire Division, Burlington County Ancient Order of Hibernians. “Apparently, there’s a pub crawl that day, and there’s no one left to play it. They’re all here.”
The bars’ loss is your gain. All of that concentrated talent is scheduled to appear from 2 p.m. on Saturday to 1 a.m. Sunday on two stages inside Buzz’s Tavern and in a heated tent alongside the bar at 100 Rancocas Road. (They all also appear on floats in the parade.) Ten bucks gets you into the venue. Beer and food will be available. There will also be a number of vendors selling Irish goodies of one kind or another. Party proceeds help offset the cost of the parade.
Logue says he got the idea to include all those bands four years ago, when the AOH was considering whether to start a parade for Burlington County. He and other AOHers went on scouting expeditions to the Trenton and Philadelphia parades. He noticed that Philadelphia, in particular, featured many floats with bands playing away throughout the parade.
“I thought that was neat,": he says. "And Ifigured, why not bring them to Mount Holly for the whole day? That way, people will get to hear all the different bands and the music—to experience the entire phila irish culture.”
If you want to get an early start on the festivities, the Shamrock Four-Mile Race begins at 9 a.m. Registration starts at 7:45. For details, contact Buzz’s Tavern, call Mark Evans at (609) 760-1101 or e-mail BuzzsTavern@verizon.net.
http://www.buzzstavern.com/pdf/shamrock.pdf
There’s a Mass at Sacred Heart Church, 260 High Street, at 10:30 a.m.
The opening ceremony takes place at 12:30 p.m., and the parade kicks off at 1. It begins on High Street near Fairgrounds Plaza and proceeds down High Street to Town Hall.
Links
Burlington County AOHMount Holly Parade
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