Derry celebrates St Patrick’s Day in style as bumper crowds attend city centre parade
19 March 2025
Derry cemented it’s reputation as a major destination to celebrate St Patrick’s Day in as tens of thousands of people packed the city centre to the rafters this afternoon for the city’s annual parade.
Over 800 performers took part in the North West Carnival Initiative’s procession through the streets that featured sports clubs, dance troupes and community organisations all celebrating the theme of Flowers, Fur and Feathers.
Mayor of Derry and Strabane, Councillor Lilian Seenoi Barr, joined St Patrick to lead the procession which began inside the walls and travelled down through Shipquay Street past the local landmarks of the Guildhall and the Peace Bridge and concluded on Strand Road.
“What a wonderful day in our city centre,” said Mayor Barr. “Leading the Derry St Patrick’s Day parade along with hundreds of talented young people is an experience I will never forget.
“I want to acknowledge all the hard work that went into this year’s St Patrick’s Day festivities, both from the Council team, the North West Carnival Initiative and all their statutory and community partners.
“But most of all I want to thank the thousands of local people who lined the streets to watch the parade and created an atmosphere like no other.
“Nobody throws a party better than our Council area and we proved that again today.”
Other highlights of the day’s festivities included live music at the main stage in the Guildhall Square, which had people dancing in the streets.
The Craft Village was also buzzing with live traditional music and Irish dancing, while Derry’s Guildhall was packed with revellers enjoying the traditional Irish music and céilí dance session.
Head of Culture with Derry City and Strabane District Council, Aeidin McCarter, said early indications were of another record breaking crowd in attendance.
“Thank you to our Festival and Events team and all our partners for co-ordinating another successful St Patrick’s Day celebration.
“A lot of unseen work takes place behind the scenes to make sure an event of this scale runs smoothly but it is all worthwhile when we see thousands of people having a positive experience.
“We will process the data over the coming days but early indications are that we have surpassed 30,000 spectators for a second successive year which we are delighted about.
“Visitors from outside the Council area look high as well as we continue to build our reputation as a venue to celebrate St Patrick’s Day in.”