Local News 
Onlookers cheered as the parade passed by during the annual St. Patrick’s day parade in 2024. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
By Molly Farrar
March 11, 2025
After an “anything goes” St. Patrick’s Day parade in South Boston last year, the celebration will begin an hour and a half earlier in an effort to curb drunkenness and violence.
Last year’s parade, which reportedly drew a crowd of 1 million people, seemed to be particularly rowdy. Eleven people were arrested, and Red Line trains had to bypass Broadway Station due to heavy crowds.
“It was out of control,” state Sen. Nick Collins, who represents South Boston, said Tuesday. Collins, fellow representative Councilor Ed Flynn, Rep. Stephen Lynch, and state Rep. David Biele sent a letter to college leaders in the state attempting to set a new tone for St. Patrick’s Day this year.
The parade previously began at 1 p.m., giving crowds ample time to day drink and make their way to South Boston, mostly on the Red Line. Instead, the parade, hosted by the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, is kicking off at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
“Our focus has remained on addressing the public safety and quality of life issues that created the unacceptable ‘anything goes’ atmosphere last year,” the officials wrote in the letter, “including public drinking, disturbing incidents of violence and assaults that went viral on social media, people on rooftops without a roof deck, overcrowding on roof decks, beer cans thrown at parade marchers, and public urination on resident’s property.”
Flynn, Collins, Lynch, and Biele were part of a task force assembled to address the safety issues that arose from last year’s parade. Collins said the event is the largest in the city and needs increased collaboration between Boston police and transit and state law enforcement agencies to keep the neighborhood safe.
The parade should end by 2 p.m., Collins said, rather than 4 p.m., like in previous years. And, with “zero tolerance” on public drinking and “only so much room in the restaurants,” crowds won’t linger in South Boston, Collins said.
The parade starts at Broadway Station and follows a 3.5 mile path, ending in Andrew Square. Collins pointed to increased collaboration between law enforcement, the reestablishment of “family friendly zones,” and a shortened parade brigade as other major changes to the event.
“That wasn’t prioritized in the same way, and I think we’ve seen the negative impacts of that,” Collins said, referring to the family-specific zones. “People with disabilities or families “can’t enjoy the parade without feeling like they’re going to be trampled on.”
Key locations on the parade route like Medal of Honor Park and Perkins Square will also see increased public safety personnel, Collins said. Officials said the fire department will crack down on overcrowded roof decks, and the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission and the Boston Licensing Board is working with Boston police to limit sales to underage people.
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade also honors Evacuation Day, celebrated March 17, when British troops and loyalists evacuated Boston in 1776.
“Our message to visitors to South Boston’s parade is simple: please show some common courtesy and respect for the residents, veterans and military families, our dedicated first responders, and our nation’s history,” the letter signed by Lynch, Flynn, Collins, and Biele said.
After the parade last year, Flynn threatened to move the celebration out of South Boston “indefinitely” if this year’s event doesn’t run more smoothly. He even floated the idea of moving the parade to downtown Boston.
“If you are a guest, or in South Boston for the Evacuation Day Parade – show some common courtesy and respect for the residents, for our veterans and military families, our dedicated first responders, and our history,” Flynn, a veteran, said in a statement Tuesday. “Operate under the golden rule, and if you wouldn’t do it back home – don’t do it here.”
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