MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Saturday marks the return of an annual tradition in Memphis – the 49th Silky Sullivan St. Patrick’s Day parade on Beale Street. The parade was canceled in 2020 and moved to May with restrictions in 2021 due to COVID.
This year, it’s full steam ahead.
The Beale Street Merchants Association has been hard at work putting together the yearly green strut down Beale.
"We're so happy to have St. Patrick's back on the calendar after two years have been having our toes stepped on," said Joellyn Sullivan, owner of Silky O'Sullivan's on Beale Street.
She's the widow of the late Thomas "Silky" Sullivan for whom the parade is named.
"49 years ago, Mark Flanagan, Thomas Boggs and Silky Sullivan formed the secret society of the Irish Eyes of Memphis and decided that Memphis was missing out by having nothing for St. Patrick's. So they launched all the efforts that went into making St. Patrick's event for the city of Memphis," Sullivan said.
For 47 years, the parade ran uninterrupted, surged on by the owner of the popular Irish bar on Beale, who died in 2013.
In 2014, the first parade after Silky had died, the Beale Street Merchants Association decided that the parade should be named for him.
This year, Sullivan said they expect over 1,000 people and 60 different parade participants to celebrate after the pandemic hit Beale Street hard over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We were especially impacted because we were given a special curfew of 10:00 for the longest, longest time. And even one year ago through the month of February, we were at a 25% capacity and still having to close at midnight," Sullivan said.
The parade will especially celebrate its roots this year. The Grand Marshall will be Jay Wells, a longtime manager at Silky O’Sullivan's. The Queen is Peggy McNamera Flanagan, daughter of the original founder of the Irish Eyes of Memphis, Mark Flanagan, and the King is Memphis Tourism CEO Kevin Kane, who businesses say was instrumental in keeping them afloat in a hard time.
"It just seems so appropriate. We've had such a tough time with COVID that the Memphis tourism has done such a wonderful job of keeping restaurants and downtown and the city of Memphis, as supported and as afloat as possible, and poised for a return to normal tourism," Sullivan said.
On Saturday, bundle up, put on your green and come celebrate. The parade kicks off at 3 p.m. right along Beale Street and the St. Patrick’s day festivities won’t end there. The annual Irish Eyes of Memphis Pub Crawl will be next Thursday, March 17, better known as St. Patrick’s Day.