The forecast for Des Moines shows snow is possible and it won’t get above freezing on this Saint Patrick’s Day, but there’s a strict rain-or-shine policy for Iowa’s largest parade to honor the patron saint of Ireland.
Jerry Grady has organized the parade for more than three decades as a member of the Central Iowa Chapter of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick.
“The parade will go on. We’ve got about 60 entries who are planning on rolling down the streets of Des Moines,” Grady says. “Through the years, we have rolled in freezing rain, rainstorms, no storms. It doesn’t matter. We’re all crazy Irishmen. We go no matter what.”
Grady says they never cancel the parade, well, unless there’s a global pandemic. While snowflakes may fly soon after the parade starts at noon, he still expects plenty of loyal onlookers.
“On a nice day, we get thousands of people downtown to watch it, but I would anticipate that the crowd will be a little smaller. The skywalk, I think there’s only a couple of skywalks over the parade route, but there will still be people out there wanting to see the parade.”
Saint Patrick’s Day fell on a Saturday in 2012 and the high temperature hit an unseasonable 80-degrees, drawing more than 25,000 people to the capitol city’s streets to watch the parade.