Ambitious plans to extend St Patrick’s Day Parade and Spring Carnival celebrations

Derry and Strabane councillors have unanimously backed ambitious plans to extend the annual St Patrick’s Day Parade and Spring Carnival celebrations more widely throughout the city and district; delivered by partners, they will be included in Council’s overall programme and promotion.
The theme for this year’s St Patrick’s Day is the forest, sky and sea. Parade participants will be encouraged to incorporate this theme into the floats, costumes and performances.
Since 2019 Derry’s St Patrick’s Day Parade has taken place in the city centre. According to a report presented to councillors at Tuesday’s Business and Culture committee meeting, this has proved “popular with participants, attendees and businesses.
Last year’s parade had the highest ever attendance figures of 32,500. The Strabane parade was also well attended with an estimated 10,000 spectators.
This year’s parade will take place on March 17 at 3.00pm. It is envisaged it will feature more than 500 participants from throughout the city.
It will leave from Bishop Street, go through the Diamond, down Shipquay Street, along Whittaker Street onto the dual carriageway, through the Harbour Square Roundabout onto the Strand Road and down to parade finish at the Strand Road Car Park.
The carnival will be delivered by the North West Carnival Initiative (NWCI) and will include an open call and targeted engagement programmes aimed at supporting local communities and carnival arts organisations.
In addition, there will be a large stage in Guildhall Square, offering a mix of traditional music and dance.
There are also plans for a Legenderry food and Craft Market alongside this. The Craft village will also play host to traditional and modern music and animation.
Additional street animation, music and performance will be explored to complement and enhance the festival highlight offering.
For the first time ever, Music Capital will run an Afro Celt Sound System event in The Guildhall on Sunday, March 16. This is a fusion of African, Gaelic and Bhangra influenced sounds bringing spirits and music from different cultures together to a breathtaking show.
The Strabane St Patrick’s Day parade was described as “a key community event that celebrates culture, heritage, and the spirit of the town”.
The theme for the 2025 parade will be ‘Celebrating Heritage’ as Strabane has a “rich cultural history of traditions, arts and music”. Parade participants will be encouraged to incorporate this theme into the floats, costumes and performances.
Council officers will also work with creative organisations and community groups to continue to enhance and grow the community carnival parade, through the recruitment of participants, management and delivery of an 8-week carnival skills development and carnival arts creation programme.
This carnival arts programme will lead to showcase activity at the St Patrick's Day parade.
Local schools, businesses, community groups are actively invited to participate in the parade. An open call for registrations went out via a public call with a deadline for entries is March 3, 2025.
To date 15 confirmed entries have been received including local schools, dance groups and cultural organisations.
In addition to the parade there will be a variety of entertainment activities including live music, performances and children’s activities in the Alley Theatre from 1.30pm to 4.30pm.
The Strabane parade route will follow the traditional route through the town centre, starting at the Holy Cross College at 2pm proceeding down the Melmount Road and ending in Dock Street behind the Alley Theatre.
Looking to the future, Council officers are planning to continue to work with council departments, the BID group, arts and cultural organisations and venues and local business to develop and promote a full festival programme for Strabane and district. This will be based around highlight events and programme including live music and performers to complement the carnival parade.
Derry City and Strabane District Council’s overall St Patrick’s Day budget is £95,000. Of this, £27,000 of this has been allocated specifically to Strabane activity and £68,000 for Derry city.