Philadelphia celebrates St. Patrick's Day with annual parade Sunday

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade will be held in Philadelphia on Sunday.

The parade route will start at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard.

"Saint Patrick's Day is all about coming together, celebrating, having fun, and Philadelphia definitely is a City of Brotherly Love. It's a city where people love to drink and go out and have a good time," said Ryan Breslin, the general manager of Con Murphy's.

Last year, the parade was the first since the COVID-19 outbreak.

This year, groups from all over the world will be performing including a band from Belfast Northern Ireland.

SEE ALSO: Philadelphia officials release St. Patrick's Day Parade road closures, parking restrictions

The parade is always scheduled to happen the Sunday before Saint Patrick's Day. That means this weekend draws in a lot of business for the city.

"It's just a great tribute to ethnic pride. Philadelphia's a city of neighborhoods obviously, but not only Philadelphia but the entire Delaware Valley area. I think it's just about ready to get out of winter and people want to get out and it's just a great celebration of pride, and we're so excited to host this," said Michael Bradley, the parade director.

At New Deck Tavern, lots of people were out celebrating before the parade including Gary O'Neill who came here from Ireland and was playing Irish music for the crowd.

"The people that turn out, that support it, support the Irish music, and support the culture -- that keeps the Irish heritage alive," said O'Neill of Drexel Hill.

The parade is set to start at 11:15 a.m.

SEE ALSO: Bar crawls, parades, events for St. Patrick's Day near Philadelphia