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Charlotte will have an Irishman named Pat at the head of its annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year.
Gov. Pat McCrory, who served as grand marshal of the parade twice while mayor of the city, will return to the role for the 17th annual parade on March 16.
Tom Murray, CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, will be deputy grand marshal.
The parade begins at 11 a.m. in Charlotte’s uptown and is part of a full day of festivities which also includes the Charlotte Goes Green Festival. That event takes place from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. along South Tryon Street and features live music, food and more.
McCrory is serving his first term as governor, after seven terms as mayor of Charlotte. He was grand marshal of the 2003 St. Patrick’s Day Parade and reprised the role in 2009, when the parade and festival were postponed a week due to bad weather.
Last year’s parade and festival drew a record crowd of about 80,000 people, according to organizers. It took place in unseasonably warm weather.
