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Wondering how the Syracuse parade compares to other Upstate parades, i.e. Rochester, Buffalo. Didn't even know Rochester holds a large parade until this year, and Buffalo holds 2 parades! What about Albany, Binghamton, Utica?
I have googled enough to see both the 'Cuse and Rochester's draw about the same amount of people. Syracuse is much smaller, so that's interesting.
And, which city boasts the largest Irish heritage population in comparison to other Western European descendants in Upstate? I know, that should be another thread.
Wondering how the Syracuse parade compares to other Upstate parades, i.e. Rochester, Buffalo. Didn't even know Rochester holds a large parade until this year, and Buffalo holds 2 parades! What about Albany, Binghamton, Utica?
I have googled enough to see both the 'Cuse and Rochester's draw about the same amount of people. Syracuse is much smaller, so that's interesting.
And, which city boasts the largest Irish heritage population in comparison to other Western European descendants in Upstate? I know, that should be another thread.
I'd say it is a close race between Syracuse and the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area. Both are known for having relatively high percentages of people of Irish descent.
Uticas parade since the great american festival took it over, It was so much bigger and better when the cable cares club ran it. now its just a bunch of trucks moving down the street with very few bands. the festival pi$$ed so many people off they wont get behind the parade as they did in the past. I'd pass this one and go to syracuse or albany for a quality parade.
In Syracuse, the St Patrick's festivities coincide with March Madness, which is usually a big deal in Syracuse because the Orangemen are often in the hunt. So, St Patrick's Day seems to extend for longer than the actual day of the parade. Syracuse doesn't just have an Irish population, it has a celebrated Irish neighborhood (Tipperary Hill) that has the famous traffic light with the green light on top, the only one of its kind in the country.
Also, due to the snowy winter weather in Syracuse, St Patrick's Day really seems to matter as an excuse to get out and raise hell after a long winter (which usually isn't even finished yet by the time the parade happens, which is why Syracuse St Patrick's parades are so hardcore). All they need to do is schedule some outdoor hockey games during this period of time, and I think Syracuse St Patrick's Week could become the premier winter sporting/drinking/outdoor pissing festival in America. They're not there yet, but they could get there if they wanted to.
Other than that... I think Scranton also has a St Patrick's Day parade that can easily compete with Syracuse or Albany.
D@mn straight! lol - mid-March gets a little crazy 'round here... huge Irish population and everyone who isn't IS anyway. It's pretty much a few weeks of pub crawling, shouting across massive crowds of people to friends down the block or across the bar and shoving down fish and chips and soda bread because... Éirinn go Brách!! Also a plus- the orange in the Irish flag goes well with the SU Orangemen fans. (Just about everyone. lol)
It helps that my dad's side is wikkid Irish Catholic , are originally downstate NY'ers, my brothers play bagpipes and drums, and my dad and uncles seemed to go to high school with just about every pub owner in the city. lol
Didn't the green beer truck arrive in front of Coleman's (at Tipp Hill, for the non-residents) last week? I'd say THAT was the start of the St. Patty's season. :P
Great points and I believe that the Syracuse metro is only behind Boston and is tied with the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro in terms of percentage of people of Irish descent.
I've also heard that Savannah GA actually has a pretty big St. Patty's Day Parade too.
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It's pretty much a few weeks of pub crawling, shouting across massive crowds of people to friends down the block or across the bar and shoving down fish and chips and soda bread because... Éirinn go Brách!! Also a plus- the orange in the Irish flag goes well with the SU Orangemen fans. (Just about everyone. lol) 
