St. Patrick’s Day brings business to downtown Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - On Monday, downtown Augusta was decked out in green, with the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade taking place.
Dozens of floats made their way down Greene Street – with revelers enjoying everything downtown has to offer.
The fun continued into the evening with live performances.
Mondays are usually slow downtown, but the St. Patrick’s Day events gave a boost to the local economy, especially after Hurricane Helene.
The big turnout is what downtown businesses were hoping to see — more people enjoying what downtown has to offer.
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“Generally speaking, we have dart league and that’s the only reason to be here on a Monday,” said Matt Flynn, co-owner of the Stillwater Taproom. “And other than the regular happy hour crowd, you know, this is this will be great the whole day.”
Community volunteer Robyn Wittenberg Dudley was out during the parade.
“Beautiful day. So many people. It’s so great to see,” she said, adding: “I mean, downtown Augusta is great.”
Ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, an Irish-American leader, journalist, mayor and senator was recognized in Augusta.
“Patrick Walsh was one of our most notable Irish men in Augusta of time,” said Sean Mooney, president of the Irish American Heritage Society, which hosted the parade. “He started off as an editor of the paper and became a senator as well as a mayor, we’ve got a lot of people to look up to in the past both literally and figuratively today.”
WATCH THE FULL PARADE:
In Savannah, thousands of revelers in gaudy green costumes crowded sidewalks and oak-shaded squares as the South’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade wound through the historic Georgia city. This parade marked its 200th anniversary a year ago, tracing its origins to the day Irish immigrants marched to church in March 1824.
Lindsey Dodd, who’s been coming to Savannah’s parade for about 15 years, sported green hair braids, green lipstick and shamrock-decorated socks as her group set up chairs in a prime spot for parade-watching. Children tooted plastic horns and grown ups raised their beers as pipe and drum bands marched and pickup trucks towed shamrock-decorated floats.
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Friends of the Animal Shelter in Aiken had a Saint Patrick’s Day adoption event.
“I just enjoy the festivities, people watching, the chaos,” Dodd said. “There’s just something special about Savannah.”
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