Elmhurst St. Patrick's Day Parade Canceled

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst's St. Patrick's Day parade has been canceled because of the pandemic, the mayor announced Tuesday.

At a City Council meeting, Mayor Steve Morley said he regretted to inform members that the parade was canceled for "obvious" reasons.

"That is a well-attended parade. In fact, I can say that the city of Elmhurst hosted the largest St. Patrick's Day parade of 2020, but we're still under the governor's orders, and we pack them in pretty good for the parade," the mayor said.

The local parade may have been the biggest in the area because Chicago canceled its parade as the pandemic worsened.

Elmhurst's parade was March 7, while Chicago's was a week later. Pandemic-wise, much changed in those few days.

At Tuesday's council meeting, Morley explained the reasoning behind the cancellation.

"The planning (for the parade) really starts in December and can't go much past January in terms of lining up insurance and participants, so the decision was made to cancel the St. Patrick's Day parade," he said.

Chicago has made no announcement about whether it would hold a parade. Elmhurst, though, is hardly alone with its decision. In the last few days, both Boston and Cleveland have announced cancellations.