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Atchison's St. Patrick's parade canceled

By Neil Wieland

02/08/2021

(KAIR)-- A long-running and very popular Atchison tradition has been cancelled.

St. Patrick’s Parade Committee Chairman Janie Pickman says this year’s decision to cancel the parade and related festivities stems from concerns over Covid-19.

“Mostly what went towards it is just people worried about Covid and how to restrict entry into a lot of places, because we’re still restricted to the amount people we can have per square footage – like for the ceremony – so the Elks didn’t feel comfortable figuring out how they were going to limit people coming in and out of that building – and the bars the same way a little bit. And having to make sure people social distance on the street. The city was going to issue a permit so that was not the issue, it’s just with all the Covid things that were stacked against us we just decided to be safe we better not to do it this year.”

In a normal year the St. Patrick’s festivities draw multitudes to the downtown area for a wide array of events – including live music at the ELKS lodge, a grand marshal ceremony, and pub crawl.

Pickman says the parade has been held annually for more than 35 years, and typically draws 50 to 80 entries.

She says she looks forward to its return next year.

The parade is traditional held on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day.

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