MANCHESTER, N.H. – For only the third time in 30 years, there will be no Manchester’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade after the parade committee and city could not come to an agreement about the parade route.
On Thursday, a letter was submitted to the Manchester City Clerk’s office from the Manchester St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee confirming that a parade will not be held in 2026 [see below].
The decision stemmed from concern by the parade committee over a change in the parade’s staging area. In previous years, the parade began at the corner of Salmon and Elm streets. This year it was expected to begin near the corner of Bridge and Elm streets, as did the 2025 Veterans’ Day Parade and Holiday Parade under the city’s new public safety guidelines.
The discussion began at the Dec. 3 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, which was followed by a letter submitted to the city by the parade committee on Dec. 12 requesting the city allow them to revert to the original parade route, or that the parade would not go on.
A meeting was scheduled for early January to discuss the logistics of the parade. The committee’s intent was to have the original route restored which, after discussion, was clearly not an option.
Manchester St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee Chairman Dan O’Neil, who also serves as Alderman At-Large, told Manchester Ink Link that while the committee appreciated the attempts at outreach from the city, committee members did not feel comfortable staging the parade with the new parameters and that the old route had worked for many years.
In the letter, O’Neil cited the size and scope of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade compared to the Holiday Parade and the committee’s consensus after observing the December holiday parade.
“We all came away with similar feelings. Putting on a parade like ours, with up to 2,000 participants, using only the designated staging areas on and near Bridge Street, would represent many safety hazards and a logistical nightmare,” O’Neil wrote. He also mentioned in the letter that with the parade only two months away, sufficient timing for volunteers to be ready for all the changes would be a constraint.
O’Neil stressed that the committee will still engage in other activities this year, also noting that the parade returned following postponements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re going to stay current, we’re not going away. And if we can do a parade in 2027, we would welcome the opportunity,” he said.