I didn’t make it out to Healdsburg’s famous annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on Monday morning, a local tradition that reportedly goes back more than three decades, and boy have I been suffering from a bad bout of FOMO (fear of missing out) while reviewing the footage. Healdsburg Tribune photographer Rick Tang was there, though, and you’ll be seeing a bunch of his best photos in tomorrow’s print issue of the Trib!
Here’s what went down at what has come to be known as “The Biggest Shortest Parade in the World” this year, from what I’ve gathered. Hundreds of revelers in wacky green getups, with plenty of kids and dogs in tow, lined Healdsburg Avenue just before dawn to watch the mini procession make its way toward the plaza along its quarter-to-half-mile route around 7am. (Some of them had been drinking Irish coffees at John & Zeke’s and eating Irish grub at Costeaux since more like 6am, I hear!) The parade was led by bagpiper Hal Wilkes, as is tradition. Behind him was a truck carrying the parade’s grand marshal, artist and community leader Kathy Birdsong (in the backseat), and another truck carrying the parade’s queen, young Healdsburg esthetician Cierra Hayes (in the truck bed, engulfed by a clover-green gown). Everyone watching the parade then fell in line behind it for a victory lap around the plaza.
The Press Democrat posted some fun pics, including a closeup of The Wurst restaurant manager Trinity Allen’s epic leprechaun manicure. Another local in the crowd, Maggi Rose Viernes, also posted some great photos and videos in the “What’s Happening Healdsburg” Facebook group. “The parade was a blast,” she writes. “The rain stayed away just long enough!”
Healdsburg city officials did end up canceling the midday portion of their planned St. Patrick’s Day festivities because of the rain, though. A Celtic rock band called Tempest and a local dance group called the Shiloh Step Irish Dancers were scheduled to perform from noon through 1:30pm. “We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding,” the cancelation notice said. At least everyone had a better chance of going home and sleeping it off, I suppose! Here’s some lovely city footage of the Shiloh dancers doing their thing in the plaza on a sunny St. Patrick’s Day past, so you know what we missed. Anyway, there’s always next year — and judging by the way this annual holiday tradition has been growing, 2026 promises to be bigger and more boisterous than ever!
Note from Simone: This piece originally appeared in the weekly email newsletter I write for the Healdsburg Tribune, called Healdsburg Today. Subscribe here!
