The 10th annual Vancouver St. Patrick’s Day Parade is CelticFest Vancouver‘s largest and most popular free event, and takes place on Sunday, March 16. CelticFest has been taking place each year to bring together the local community in an annual festival celebration of Celtic culture in Vancouver. They showcase local and international Celtic music, dance, spoken word, theatre, film art, crafts, food and drinks and Highland sports.

Festival organizers expect over 200,000 people to line the streets and cheer on the 2,000 parade participates, which will include award-winning pipe and drum bands, Celtic musicians, Scottish and Irish dancers, acrobats, stilt walkers, vintage cars, VPD motorcycle drill team and pipe band, fire and police dogs, mounted horse drill teams, multi-cultural organizations and performers, local businesses and many more.

Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade (tip: start by wearing green or prepare to be pinched!).

Vancouver St. Patrick’s Day Parade

When: Sunday, March 16, 2014
Time: 11 a.m.
Where: Starts at Howe & Davie, ends at Georgia & Granville

Parade route

The parade follows the same route as the 2013 parade, starting at Howe & Davie in downtown Vancouver and heading north up Howe, finishing at Georgia & Granville.

Transit

As with any other major event happening in the heart of the city, driving in downtown will be tricky. Visit TransLink for more info on bus reroutes. Your best option will be to take the SkyTrain into Granville Station or the Canada Line into Vancouver City Centre.

For more information on CelticFest, visit www.celticfestvancouver.com. Follow CelticFest on Facebook and Twitter (@CelticFestVan).

Images: Michelle Lee / Flickr

Vancity Buzz is proud to be a Media Partner of CelticFest Vancouver