MINNEAPOLIS ST. PATRICK'S DAY ASSOCIATION

The 55th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade

Friday, March 17th, 2023, 6:00pm

Starting at the intersection of 40th Avenue NE & Van Buren Street, Columbia Heights, MN. Line-up starts at 5:00pm.

Come join in on this parade co-sponsored by the Columbia Heights Lion Club and Columbia Heights VFW #230! Entry to participate in the parade is $25.

Following the parade is the Blarney Blast, which will be held at Murzyn Hall.

Entry for this event is:

- $10 for ages 12 and up.

- $5 for ages 6-11

- free for 5 and under

Check out the Events section of our site for more information about registration and entry!

OUR ORGANIZATION

Learn more about our history, what we support, and how you can participate.

OUR HISTORY

The Minneapolis St. Patrick's Day Association, or MSPDA, was founded in 1969 by Sean and Judith Clerkin. With their active participation in the community and desire to celebrate Minnesota's Irish-American heritage, the Clerkins decided to begin a tradition of supporting the diabetic community by donating to the American Diabetes Association, raising money through St. Patrick's Day parade events and contests.

GIVING BACK

Besides donating 100% of proceedings to the American Diabetes Association, MSPDA raises money for Camp Needlepoint, a summer camp for children living with diabetes. Members of the MSPDA community, from Ms. Blarney to friends of the association, sell buttons and paper shamrocks to raise funds for the children at camp.

PARTICIPATION

Promotion of MSPDA is done through various parade events and contests. These include:

The Blarney Princess contest
The Wee Leprechauns contest
Nomination of the Kilt Bohys
Honoring Irish-American community members
Paper Shamrocks with friends of MSPDA
Selling of MSPDA Buttons

2022 BUTTON

This year, we thought we would dedicate our button design to starting again after these past two years of pandemic. Although these past two years have felt much the same as the last, we hope we can find a creative and safe way to continue supporting the American Diabetes Association through fundraising and fun events for friends and family of MSPDA.

COMMEMORATIVE BUTTONS

The first St. Patrick's Day Association button was created in 1970 to promote Irish heritage and raise money for The American Diabetes Association. For $5.00, you can buy our yearly button and bead design to help raise money for Camp Needlepoint. See our collection of button designs from 2009-2022 below!