Ronnie Burke, the captain of the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day parade, says he’s relying on the luck of the Irish to keep the rain away on Saturday afternoon (March 16).
And maybe some heavenly intervention.
There's reason for optimism. Weather forecasts for the weekend show potential rain moving through the area on Sunday. Saturday seems likely to be cloudy.
But Burke said he’s been keeping a rosary made from green Connemara marble from County Galway, Ireland, in his pocket, which he employs regularly as he prays for clear skies.
Truth is, Burke said, a little rain won’t stop the annual procession celebrating Irish heritage. The only things that could interfere would be lightning and a deluge sufficient to cause flooding. The important thing, he said, is the safety of the kids in the bands, the float riders, and more than 1,000 marchers.
In any case, he said, “we will always adhere to what the city administration or NOPD tells us.”
Ronnie Burke blows the whistle to start the Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day Club parade as it returned after an absence for the COVID-19 pandemic, on Saturday, March 12, 2022, in New Orleans.
The parade, he said, won’t be rescheduled for a later date. “We don’t have a rain date,” he said. “We either have to go or cancel.”
Burke said he can remember just two weather cancellations over the years. And once, in 1991, the parade started a couple of hours early, based on the forecast.
Naturally, at start time, it poured. But, Burke said, he and the grand marshal — the late Harry Connick Sr. — agreed to break out the ponchos and roll.
St. Joseph's parade
The leaders of the annual Italian American St. Joseph Society St. Joseph’s Day Parade that takes place later on Saturday in the French Quarter have a similar strategy.
According to society treasurer Danny Imbornone, “Rain, sleet or snow, we’re going to roll unless we’re told not to.”
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