KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — UPDATE (3/12/22 6:30 a.m.): The St. Patrick's Day Parade has been canceled due to snow and cold weather.
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One of Knoxville's biggest events, the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, is set to kick off at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Groups of all kinds are expected to participate, winding through downtown and showing off their clothes, colors and creations.
The Smoky Mountain Ghostbusters are expected to show up and protect the parade from any possible ghosts, while the Western Brown High School Marching Band will play music for everyone to hear.
Proceeds from the parade go to Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, a nonprofit organization in the area.
The parade will step off from the intersection of Hall of Fame Boulevard and Howard Baker at 12:45 p.m., giving participants time to get organized before the parade officially starts. It will end on Jackson Avenue, under James White Parkway in the Old City.
The route will turn on Gay Street past the Bijou Theatre, the Tennessee Theatre and the Regal movie theatre towards Summit Hill and Old City.
The parade was canceled for 2 years in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to help prevent people from contracting the coronavirus. Now that cases are falling and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider Knox County to be a "low" risk area, the parade can go on.
Many lanes in downtown Knoxville will be closed from 12 p.m. through 3 p.m. to make sure people can safely participate in the parade.
