Big Balloons, Floats, Marching Bands Highlight St. Pat's Parade in St. Louis

A giant leprechaun with all of his lucky charm, a lightning bug big enough to brighten up a city block and a band that, in spite of its name, is anything but pedestrian, highlight the 42nd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade festivities Saturday in downtown St. Louis.

“It’s a great celebration of Irish heritage, naturally, and just the community coming together,” said parade chairman Mike Gentry. “It’s really become the beginning of spring, and just bringing all the people from all areas of the city and the county in to watch the parade and celebrate Irish heritage. It’s an event to see.”

With rock band the Pedestrians playing a long list of cover tunes, it will also be an event to hear.

“We’ve got a lot of pressure,” vocalist and guitarist Jay Morris said. “We’ve gotta rock the entire crowd, of all ages.”

The celebration starts early with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Run, a five-mile race kicking off at 9 a.m. with an expected 14,000 runners covering the streets of downtown and midtown St. Louis. The Pedestrians will perform from 9:30 a.m. to noon, when the parade begins.

“We try to make every song fun and danceable, which I think goes real well with the party atmosphere down there,” Morris said.

In addition to the leprechaun and lightning bug floats, which typically take about 30 handlers each to manage, the parade will feature an immense green shamrock balloon plus floating superhero and cartoon character balloons. The parade also will have several marching bands, floats of all kinds, Irish step dancers, the Shriners riding their tiny cars and motorcycles, clowns, classic cars and several breeds of dogs and more — a total of 120 units and 5,000 participants.

The parade starts at 18th and Market streets and heads east on Market to Broadway, where it ends.

The parade will also have Dinny McGinley, a member of the Irish Parliament representing County Donegal, as the Irish Guest of Honor. Saturday's parade is considered one of the biggest and best St. Patrick’s Day parades in the country.

“It’s generally become recognized as one of the largest,” Gentry said. “New York and Cleveland are a little bigger than us, but we’re definitely bigger than (the parades in) Chicago and Boston now.”

The parade is made possible by the 160 people in the parade organization, from founder Joseph McGlynn Jr. on down, plus 500 volunteers, Gentry said. In addition to being a fun raiser for a crowd that is conservatively estimated at 300,000 people, the parade is also a fundraiser. Money raised by the parade benefits several charities and organizations, Gentry said, including St. Louis Irish Arts, St. Patrick Center, Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, St. Louis Backstoppers, Kenrick Seminary and others.

Pedestrians will rock and roll the parade crowd
If you don’t recognize at least one song the four-man Pedestrians play Saturday, chances are you’ve been living in a cave for the last 40 or 50 years.

“We’re everywhere from ‘Sweet Caroline’ to ‘Sweet Home, Alabama’ to ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ and ‘Walk Like An Egyptian,’” Morris said.

They recently added Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” and also give an “updated rock twist” to John Denver’s “Country Roads.”

The Pedestrians will play the initial 9:30-noon set, and then again 2-4 p.m. at Kiener Plaza, Market and Seventh streets. The group, which formed in 1994, disbanded in 1996 and reformed in 2000, usually performs about once a month.

Sometimes they play bars, other times charity events. They were one of the bands at last weekend’s Mardi Gras parade, but the St. Pat’s Parade will be a step up.

“This’ll definitely be the biggest crowd we’ve ever played for, by far,” Morris said.

In addition to Morris, who lives in St. Louis, the Pedestrians feature Kevin Baldus of Fairview Heights on lead guitar and vocals, Steve Kuca of O’Fallon, IL on drums and St. Louisan Will Zorn playing bass.

Morris and Baldus split the lead vocals.

“We each sing about half the songs, so that gives you a bigger variety of vocal stylings,” Morris said, “So you’re not just listening to the one guy the whole time.”

With more than four hours of performing Saturday, it’s also easier on the singers.

“We’re gonna hit it hard,” Morris said.

A typical one-hour set has 17 songs. Doing some quick math, Morris figured the group will play 44 songs in the morning set before the parade. The post-parade two hours should bring another 34 songs, give or take, depending on the audience.

“If people are there and they’re rockin’, we’re mostly likely going to skip our break and go to the next set,” Morris said. “Because that’s what I feed off of, is the crowd. If the crowd is there, and they’re into it, and they’re digging the songs, that just gets me going.”

The band has an eclectic play list, ranging from “Boys of Summer” by the Ataris to White Stripe hits “Fell In Love With a Girl” and “Seven Nation Army.” The Pedestrians also cover Violent Femmes, They Might Be Giants, Coldplay, Johnny Cash, U2, Blink 182, Joan Jett and Three Doors Down, to name a few. The band was named for a pedestrian crossing sign near where one of the members lived, but the word has more than one meaning.

“Pedestrian also means kind of boring and drab,” Morris said. “I like to think we’re the opposite of that. But we think of it more as the band for everybody. Whether you’re 12 or 60, you’re gonna hear songs you know.”

When his mother-in-law heard the group for the first time recently, she recognized the old standard “You Are My Sunshine,” Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” and more.

“Most people are gonna know all the songs, and everybody’s gonna hear some songs they know and like,” Morris said.

Downtown St. Louis is about a 50-minute drive from Wentzville. Take Highway 40 east to one of several downtown exits. The parade route from 18th Street to Broadway along Market Street will be closed early for the run, and later for the parade. For detailed information about directions and parking, see the parade website’s “Getting Around” section.