The South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Thursday announced the chaplains of the Chicago Fire and Police departments as their grand marshals.
The Rev. Daniel Brandt, director of Chicago Police Chaplains Ministry, and the Rev. William McFarlane, Chicago Fire Department chaplain, will lead the parade, which kicks off March 12.
The parade begins at noon at the intersection of 103rd Street and Western Avenue.
“The central focus of the South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade is faith, family, community, and Irish heritage,” Marianne Rowan Leslie, co-chair of the South Side Irish Parade Committee, said in a statement.
“From our perspective, we could not think of a more deserving group than the Chicago Police and Chicago Fire Chaplain Ministry to represent this mission. Their work to support police and fire professionals as they encounter life’s challenging situations deserves to be recognized.”
The parade, which began in 1979, is the “largest community-based parade” outside Dublin, Ireland, organizers say. The parade resumed in 2022 after a two-year hiatus because of COVID-19.
