TORONTO — Thousands of people lined downtown Toronto streets on Sunday afternoon for the 27th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
The celebration of Monday’s Irish holiday travelled east along Bloor Street from St. George Street, south on Yonge Street and then west on Queen Street to University Avenue.
The parade grand marshal was boxer Katie Taylor, who won a gold medal for Ireland at the 2012 London Olympics in the women’s lightweight division.
The 27-year-old athlete, who also has four world championships and five European championships, was accompanied by her father and trainer Peter Taylor.
The parade, organized by the St. Patrick’s Parade Society of Toronto, included colourful floats honouring various Irish counties as well as marching bands, clowns, live animals and leprechauns.
Many spectators along the route — who braved temperatures of -21 with the windchill — donned green hats and waved Irish flags.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and his brother, councillor Doug Ford, walked most of the parade route handing out strings of green beads. The embattled mayor got a warm reception from many, including dozens who rushed to pose for photos with him.
Just south of Bloor Street, though, Ford was greeted with a loud chorus of boos.
WATCH: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford participates in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade by handing out green beads to onlookers
In Montreal, the oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in Canada also took place Sunday. The 191th edition rolled along Ste. Catherine Street as thousands of people lined the route.
BELOW: See photos from the 27th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Toronto
The Embassy of Ireland in Ottawa estimates there are about 100,000 Irish living in Canada and, according to Statistics Canada, a little more than 4.5 million Canadians claim Irish ancestry.
“Today is a special day for all those Irish communities great and small across the world that come together in a spirit of pride and joy to celebrate their identity and their links of affinity and affection with their homeland of origin,” said Michael D. Higgins, president of Ireland, in his annual St. Patrick’s Day message.
“To Irish people by birth or descent wherever they may be in the world and to those who simply consider themselves to be friends of Ireland, I wish each and every one of you a happy, peaceful and authentically Irish St. Patrick’s Day.”
Comments