The Grand Ledge St. Patrick's Day Parade
Mid-Michigan's only St. Patrick's Day parade began as a two-block neighborhood march in 2002 and grew into a downtown Grand Ledge celebration. This is the home of its history, sponsors, and the people who make it happen.
The Grand Ledge St. Patrick's Day Parade Association is a volunteer-run community group that puts on Mid-Michigan's only St. Patrick's Day parade each March in downtown Grand Ledge. What started in 2002 as a handful of neighbors marching through their two-block street has become a city-wide celebration with a queen's court, float contest, live Irish music, and thousands of spectators lining Bridge Street.
How to take part
Four ways to be part of the Grand Ledge St. Patrick's Day celebration.
The parade steps off in downtown Grand Ledge each March. Line Bridge Street and enjoy floats, bagpipes, and the whole celebration.
Community groups, families, and businesses build floats around an Irish theme and compete for the annual float award.
Local businesses keep the parade free and open. Sponsorship supports the queen's court savings bonds and the weekend's events.
The parade is run entirely by volunteers. The association welcomes neighbors who want to help stage the celebration.
Parade Pages
The history, sponsors, and people behind the Grand Ledge St. Patrick's Day Parade.
What the parade means to Grand Ledge
A neighborhood idea that became a city tradition.
From four neighbors in 2002 to a downtown celebration, the parade is Grand Ledge's own.
Children decorate bikes, families build floats, and the whole city turns out for a free celebration.
Grand Ledge merchants and Mid-Michigan sponsors underwrite the celebration every year.
The queen's court essay contest awards US savings bonds toward the winners' higher education.
Bagpipes, Irish dancing, and a stew cook-off celebrate the season in Mid-Michigan style.
Ways to support the parade
Small actions that keep a volunteer-run tradition strong.
Support the Grand Ledge businesses that make the parade possible year after year.
Pick up an official parade t-shirt or sweatshirt and show your Grand Ledge pride.
Gather your family, club, or crew and enter the float contest.
Area residents nominate parade marshals honored for service to the community.
Decorate a bike, join the march, and pass the tradition on.
Tell a neighbor. Word of mouth has grown this parade from block to city.
The businesses and organizations behind the parade
The Grand Ledge sponsors and Mid-Michigan partners who have anchored the St. Patrick's Day Parade over the years.
Keep the tradition marching
Come out each March, support the sponsors who make it free, and help a volunteer-run parade stay part of what makes Grand Ledge home.
See the sponsors