Public advised to plan ahead as tens of thousands expected for Derry’s St Patrick’s Day

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane, Councillor Ruairí McHugh, has reminded the public to familiarise themselves with the parking, traffic and travel arrangements in place in the city on Tuesday, March 17 for Derry’s annual St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival parade and entertainment.

Tens of thousands of people are expected in the city centre for a programme of music, dance, food and folklore in Guildhall Square, the Craft Village, Waterloo Place and the Guildhall from 1.00pm - 6.00pm and the city’s famous Spring Carnival parade through the town centre at 3pm.

“It’s been a long winter but with colour returning to our green spaces and brighter weather and longer evenings there is a genuine feeling of excitement building around the City and District as we head into our famous St Patrick’s Day celebrations,” said Mayor McHugh.

“The Spring Carnival parade gets bigger and better every year and local dance groups, sports clubs and community organisations have been putting the finishing touches to their costumes and routines this week for what will be a spectacular centre piece of the celebrations.

“As always with an event of this scale there will be some temporary restrictions in place so I’d urge people to familiarise themselves with the arrangements before travelling and to use public transport and active travel where possible.

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“Council’s Festival and Events team have planned activity all over the city centre from 1.00pm to 6.00pm so access the programme now and plan your experience.”

The full parade route is Bishop Street Car Park, The Diamond, Shipquay Street, Whitaker Street, Foyle Embankment, Harbour Square Roundabout, Strand Road and ending at Strand Road Car Park at the bottom of Asylum Road.

In the interest of the safe delivery of the event, a number of traffic restrictions will be in place to facilitate the carnival parade.
Motorists are advised to expect some delays and diversions in the City Centre, there are no road closures in place, but a traffic management plan will be in operation to assist the Police with safely managing traffic during the parade.

Lane closures will be installed from approximately 2.00pm at Bishop Street, Shipquay Street, Foyle Embankment, Harbour Square, Queens Quay, Strand Road which will be temporarily closed to traffic for varying lengths of time during the parade, between 2.30pm and 4.30pm.

Alternative diversion routes will be available during these times.

Motorists should note that there will be no City Centre on-street parking on Bishop Street, The Diamond and Shipquay Street from 7.00am to allow for the safe setup and passage of the Carnival Parade.

Parking on Asylum Road, Bayview Terrace and Strand Road will also be restricted to allow for Parade participation.

Drivers are reminded that as normal they should avoid parking anywhere they may be blocking entrances to residences or businesses or where they may be obstructing emergency access.

Bishop Street Car Park and Strand Road Car Park will both be closed and Foyle Street Carpark will be for Accessible / Disabled Parking only.

Translink are advising passengers of the operation of bus and rail holiday timetables on Tuesday, March 17.

Ulsterbus and Goldliner, including Airport services, will be operating Saturday and holiday timetables.  Foyle Metro services will operate on a Saturday timetable and Metro and Glider services in Belfast will operate a school holiday timetable.

Trains, including the cross-border Enterprise, will be running a Saturday timetable on the day.

Passengers are advised to check the timetable for their journey in advance on the Translink Journey Planner or website, www.translink.co.uk or by calling the Contact Centre on 028 9066 6630.

Parking updates will be posted on Derry and Strabane District Council’s social media pages.

The full programme for the 2026 Spring Carnival celebrations in Derry and Strabane is available now at derrystrabane.com/springcarnival.