Everything you need to know about the Dallas St. Patrick’s Day Parade, from road closures to route

DALLAS. The annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dallas was still two days away, and on Thursday, tents, signs and even portable toilets lined Greenville Avenue.

City and parade officials kicked off the event with a press conference covering transport and safety details.

Bars and restaurants along the miles of strip were being subjected to final inspections by business owners such as Ozona’s Corey Wason.

“We start preparations in December,” he said. “It’s like two Saturdays in one day.”

Each year, over 100,000 people take to the Dallas Parade, which is now sponsored by the Dallas Mavericks. It is considered the largest in the Southwest.

Mayor Eric Johnson will be the grand marshal of the parade this year.

“I’m at least as Irish as [2022 grand marshal] Dirk Nowitzki, so this should be a good time,” Johnson said at the kickoff press conference.

Johnson said that despite the size and booze, the parade is family-friendly, with 200 officers patrolling the area and designated family areas.

“We want everyone to understand that we will enforce the law, and we want to make sure people are no fights or anything,” Johnson said. “I think it will be a great event, as always.”

Wauson and Ozona open at 7 a.m. Saturday, located at the end of the parade route, which runs north of Northwest Highway, two miles down Greenville Avenue and ends at SMU Boulevard. It will continue until 14:00

View full traffic closure and map here.

“Lower Greenville is definitely more party-friendly, and we’re more like a restaurant any day, so a lot more families come to visit,” Wason said.

Both the city and Wason recommend taking DART given the 10 a.m. road closure and traffic jams. DART officials said it was their second busiest day of the year after the Red River Showdown.

It will be the parade’s 42nd year and almost 20th for Wason, who loves business but may not like training.

“We always joke, ‘Is it worth a double Saturday,'” Wason said. “I mean, I’ve been doing this since 2006 and that’s why I’m getting older, that’s why it’s getting harder for me because I get tired.”

DART will serve the parade and 5K and back. Visit the DART website here for more information.

When: from 9:00 to 15:00 Saturday; the parade starts at 11 am

Where: Greenville Avenue in Dallas, from SMU Boulevard to Northwest Highway. Full map and blocked roads.

DART stations: Park Lane Station, Lovers Lane Station

Parade route: North of the North-Western Highway to SMU Boulevard.

Saint Paddy Dash Day: Saturday, 8:00 Registration here.