Parade History

Irish people all over the world celebrate March 17, the name-day of their patron saint, with parades, festivities, music and dancing. The numerous members of Munich's Irish community meet their German friends in a host of clubs, societies and groups to form a thriving Irish scene.

And in 1996 the Deutsch-Irischer Freundeskreis Bayern e.V. and a band of volunteers formed a committee to organise a Munich St. Patrick's Day Parade. Some years later the Colmcilles Munich GAA and the Munich Irish Rovers FC joined the committee.

It was the first of a succession of annual parades that have become a traditional part of the Munich cultural calendar. In the few years since these modest beginnings with 250 official and a mere couple of thousand unofficial participants, it has grown into one of the largest parades in Europe, with an estimated 20,000 participants and spectators in 2005.

In recent years the Parade started in the afternoon from "Münchner Freiheit". A colourful array of Irish and Scottish associations and societies, Bavarian associations and many others marched down Leopoldstrasse and Ludwigstrasse, led by skirling pipes, passing Siegestor to end at Odeonsplatz.

At Odeonsplatz the participants and all those who joined the parade en route converged to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with us. The parade also attracted afternoon strollers who decided on the spur of the moment to take in a little Irish joie de vivre.

After the traditional ceremony of Blessing the Shamrock, performed by the priest of St. Kilian's Parish Centre, the participating music and dance groups took the stage.