Ocean County St. Patrick's Day Parade Postponed Due To Weather

Updated, 9:30 a.m. Thursday

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — After several hours of confusion swirling on social media, the Ocean County St. Patrick's Day Parade appears to be on track to be held on Saturday, April 2.

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The parade committee announced the rescheduled date as firm late Wednesday evening, but on Thursday morning was backtracking on that announcement:

"We are working with the town of Seaside Heights to get their approval so we can host the parade on Saturday April 2nd at noon," the parade committee said on its Facebook page about 7:20 a.m. Thursday. "Please check back on the parade website and our Facebook page for updates. We apologize for any inconvenience."

Seaside Heights Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz said the parade committee needs to file the paperwork for a special event for that date.

"They were advised this morning that the already approved marathon scheduled for April 2d shouldn't present a conflict," Vaz said, "and they need to submit an special event application for next week's Council meeting as a formality."

The parade was supposed to start at noon Saturday, and the parade committee initially announced it would be held as scheduled "unless there is torrential rain or a blizzard."

A worsening weather forecast forced officials to cancel for Saturday. The forecast calls for a 90 percent chance of rain and temperatures in the upper 50s, according to the National Weather Service. The Accuweather forecast says thunderstorms are possible.

The parade was scheduled to return after a one-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic — the March 7, 2020 parade was one of the last large public events in Ocean County before the spreading pandemic prompted shutdowns across the country.

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