St. Patrick’s Day London Parade Trafalgar Square Party

The St. Paddy’s Day Festival & Pubs

Yes, there is a St. Patrick’s Day parade in London!

It takes place the Sunday closest to St. Patrick’s Day, which in 2016 puts it on March 13.

The parade takes place on a 1.5-mile route down Piccadilly, past some of London’s top landmarks, including Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square and turns onto Whitehall. The starting time is noon.

Irish dancers, floats, pageantry, marching bands from all over the United Kingdom and sports clubs are all part of the parade.

But you can’t have a parade and then not a party, Especially for a St. Paddy’s Day celebration. So  after the parade, there’s the St Patrick’s Day Festival in Trafalgar Square.

This free, open-air party is one of the top Irish events in London. There’s Irish food, music, dance and the usual festive Irish-style atmosphere. With a distinctively British touch, of course.

And of course, this is London and if one place has more popular pubs on St. Patrick’s Day than Dublin, it would be London.  Then you get to do it all over again, in the pubs, anyway, on March 17, which in 2016 is a Thursday.

The weather is looking pretty good for this year’s celebration. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a high of 55. The low is chilly, tho, mid-30s.  So if you’re out after dark drinking green beer, be sure and have a green coat or sweatshirt with you.

Yes, London is tantalizingly close to Dublin. But being in London the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day and for St. Paddy’s Day itself can also be a fun Irish experience.