Spectators Brave Cold for St. Patrick's Day Parade in Hartford

Spectators braved the cold for the Greater Hartford St. Patrick’s Day Parade Saturday morning.

Temperatures are expected in the 20s and strong winds will make it feel like single digits. But that didn’t stop Tara Lutz of Cromwell from layering on the green and heading out to watch.

"I've got three pairs of pants on, fleece leggings, a pair of jeans, and then fleece pajama pants. So, lots of layers, lots of green," she said.

The parade typically draws a crowd of around 50,000 people, though it remains to be seen if the cold will affect those numbers.

The city’s budget deficit put the parade at risk this year, but volunteers worked to find private partnerships to continue the tradition. After all that work, the weather threatened to cancel the parade, but organizers decided to move ahead as scheduled.

"There's a big cost factor involved to just move the parade one week ahead that a lot of people don't realize," said Hartford Police Deputy Chief Brian Foley.

Milford chose to postpone its parade one week due to the cold. Parades in New Haven and New London scheduled for Sunday are still on. 

The Hartford parade begins at 11 a.m. on Capitol Avenue by the State Capitol, takes a left on Main Street, left on Asylum, left on Ford, and ends at the Memorial Arch.

The following road closure are in place:

At 9:30 a.m. road closures will be:

  • Capitol Avenue between Broad Street and Washington Street
  • Hungerford Street between Capitol Avenue and Russ Street
  • Oak Street between Capitol Avenue and Russ Street
  • Washington Street between Capitol Avenue and Buckingham Street
  • Trinity Street entire length Capitol Avenue exit ramp from I-84 East

At 10:40 a.m. road closures will be:

  • Capitol Avenue between Broad Street and Main Street
  • Main Street between Buckingham Street and Church Street
  • Asylum Street between Main Street and Spruce Street
  • Ford Street entire length Conlin Whitehead Highway at Columbus Blvd. Exit (exit ramp will be open)

For more information on the parade, click here.

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