LEXINGTON, Ky. — The longest-running citywide civic event, Lexington's St. Patrick's Day parade, took place this weekend, and this year was particularly special.

What You Need To Know

  •  Lexington held it's annual St. Patrick's Day parade earlier today

  •  This was the first time the event took place in three years

  •  The parade is the longest-running citywide civic event in Lexington

  • Lauren Bland was born and raised in Lexington, and has been attending the parade since she was a child

After three years of not having the event, people lined up along Main St. to watch the parade. Among those in attendance was Lauren Bland, who was born and raised in Lexington and has been going to the parade her whole life.

“Just happy to be here, so glad that this parade and this whole festival are going on again,” said Bland.

It has been a tradition for her and her family to attend the parade. Even though the Lexington native now lives in Nashville, she still took the time to return home and attend it.

“When I found out that they were doing this parade for the first time since COVID hit. I actually live in Tennessee now, so I had to make a point to come down and check out the parade,” said Bland.

Throughout the years, she has seen the parade evolve and says it has become more diverse.

“There’s a lot more community organizations and you see the dancers coming down, and you see different marching bands and things like that so it just makes it a lot more fun to stand out here for a little bit longer to watch the parade,” said Bland.

Even though it may look a little different from when she was a child, she was able to catch an old-time favorite.

“We saw the Irish dancers,” said Bland. “That’s always one of my favorite things to see the Irish dancers come through and kind of do their performance.”

The parade was part of an all-day celebration that began with The Blessing of the Keg at 10:45 a.m. and had singer Clare Cunningham close out the event at 5:30 p.m.

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