Moville St. Patrick's Day Parade a success
The weather forecast conspired against it but it didn’t put a dampener on the spirits of those out enjoying the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Moville. Some thought that the weather forecast had kept down the crowds a bit and others thought that there were normal crowds.
Weather
I always find that the weather during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade is better than the forecast said it would be. It was supposed to be a maximum of 5 degrees and real feel of 2 degrees with a 51% chance of rain. However, it didn’t rain at all and, although overcast early on, it didn’t seem as cold as forecast if you were wrapped up.
This is traditionally the day of the year that the pubs do best. After a hard winter the local pubs and shops would have been extremely grateful for the trade it brings them. It will tide many of them over till the tourists get here in the summer and when the festivals are on.
Theme
This year’s theme for many of the floats was the horsemeat scandal and I counted 5 floats that mentioned it. The Cooley Equestrian Centre float, which had lots of kids on it, had a placard which said “Hi Boys, you can eat the children but not the horses”.
One hopes there was no one from Iceland or Sainsbury’s there – and no Romanians.
Spring Tides
I did see one float with the now-defunct Spring Tides perhaps giving their last ever open air concert. They had relegated James O’Donnell to be their driver. Perhaps he roadies for them now too.
So, that’s the first big set-piece event of the year in Moville over now. The next will be the Grand Finals weekend of the Songwriters’ contest on April 19th and 20th and then the ever-popular Inishowen Vintage Show on June 9th.