What's happening this St. Patrick's Day weekend in Toronto
CBC
St. Patrick's Day lands on Monday, March 17th, but celebrations for all things Irish are happening all weekend long across the city.
Irish Consul General Janice McGann pointed to the city's strong Irish presence for the scale of celebration.
"We've a very large Irish community," she said. "We estimate around 10,000 people with Irish passports here."
Here's everything you need to know this weekend, from events you and the whole family can attend to route closures you should factor into any travel you have planned.
St. Patrick's Day weekend has a number of family friendly events, many of which are outdoors.
Shaun Ruddy, chair of the St. Patrick's Day Parade Society, says preparing for the worst weather is the most important advice he has for families attending the parade or events outside.
"We have an info booth and we always have a couple hundred pairs of gloves to put out along the parade route," he said. "We tell people to dress warm, even if it looks like it's going to be a mild day, dress warm. Dress for the weather."
Road closures for the St. Patrick's Day Race will be in effect as follows between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Roads downtown will be closed for the St. Patrick's Day Parade, from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
From 11:45 a.m. until 3 p.m. there are additional road closures:
Sunday will see train service added on the TTC's Line 1 Yonge-University and Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, as well additional streetcars on the 505 Dundas and 506 Carlton routes. Parade road closures will also result in TTC bus diversions around the route, which may affect travel time.
"All those events where you expect people to be out celebrating, we do tend to see a spike in impaired driving related collisions," said Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada CEO Steve Sullivan. He says St. Patrick's Day is no exception..
To mitigate that risk, he's partnered with Uber to leave QR codes on coasters around the city, providing small discounts for the rideshare app. Toronto is the only city included in the launch of the program, but they hope to expand next year.
"I hope everybody has a good time. It's the day to be Irish and a good time also means getting home safely for you and your friends and everybody else on the road," Sullivan said.
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