Fayetteville Holds First Ever St. Patty's Day Parade
By: Garret Krier
Updated: March 17, 2012
Irish eyes were smiling on Fayetteville Saturday for the town's 1st St Patricks Day Parade.
Organizers just came up with this idea 2 weeks ago but in that short period of time, more than 20 organizations threw their hat in the ring and marched together for St Patricks Day.
"We are so excited! How excited are we! Woooo!," said a group of Irish dancers. "There is a big chunk of America that's Irish decent," said Dixie Rhyne who came to see the parade.
Fayetteville's 1st ever St Patricks day parade started downtown at the square and winded all the way to Dickson street. Some came for heritage. "We are The Knights of Columbus. We have a strong connection to the Irish community and the Catholic faith," said one man.
Others show up just for fun. "We get to wear silly clothes and we get to walk down the middle of the street disobey traffic laws and it's wonderful hahaha," said Rhyne.
"It's so awesome I can't even explain it," said one little girl who was part of an Irish dance group. "Good people! Good times. That's what it's all about," said another man.
Parade Chariman Don Brown says the closest St. Patty's day parade is 45 miles away in Eureka Springs. "We decided to do a parade. Not hard to do in Fayetteville," said Brown.
And the crowd's don't disappoint. Brown was glad to see so many different groups show off their Irish pride. "It reaches out to so many different people around the community and it appeals to so many people," said Brown.
"This is our favorite holiday. We get to show off our dancing we get to show off our heritage and we get to have fun," said Ana Ayala, part of the Irish dance group.
Brown says this first event was a huge success and he hopes this parade will get even bigger next year.
Organizers just came up with this idea 2 weeks ago but in that short period of time, more than 20 organizations threw their hat in the ring and marched together for St Patricks Day.
"We are so excited! How excited are we! Woooo!," said a group of Irish dancers. "There is a big chunk of America that's Irish decent," said Dixie Rhyne who came to see the parade.
Fayetteville's 1st ever St Patricks day parade started downtown at the square and winded all the way to Dickson street. Some came for heritage. "We are The Knights of Columbus. We have a strong connection to the Irish community and the Catholic faith," said one man.
Others show up just for fun. "We get to wear silly clothes and we get to walk down the middle of the street disobey traffic laws and it's wonderful hahaha," said Rhyne.
"It's so awesome I can't even explain it," said one little girl who was part of an Irish dance group. "Good people! Good times. That's what it's all about," said another man.
Parade Chariman Don Brown says the closest St. Patty's day parade is 45 miles away in Eureka Springs. "We decided to do a parade. Not hard to do in Fayetteville," said Brown.
And the crowd's don't disappoint. Brown was glad to see so many different groups show off their Irish pride. "It reaches out to so many different people around the community and it appeals to so many people," said Brown.
"This is our favorite holiday. We get to show off our dancing we get to show off our heritage and we get to have fun," said Ana Ayala, part of the Irish dance group.
Brown says this first event was a huge success and he hopes this parade will get even bigger next year.
