Ballymahon's St Patrick's parade is going to be full of colour, music and fun

Preparations for the Ballymahon Lá Fhéile Pádraig celebrations are in their final phase as the town is all geared up for the feast of our patron saint.

“We're well progressed with plans for the day,” said Cllr Pat O’Toole of the Ballymahon St Patrick’s Day Parade organising committee, “we're going on the Sunday of course this year, on the 16th.”

The parade will assemble at the Creevaghbeg Road for a 3:30pm start. All entrants are asked to assemble from 2:30pm with stewards on hand to arrange the running order.

The Parade will be led by The Athlone Pipe Band and a Colour Party from Longford ONE: “Our good friends from Donegal, the Manorcunningham Pipe Band, will be with us. They have been a part of the Ballymahon parade for many years now, and this year we will also be joined by the excellent Bula Bula Samba Band from Longford Town.”

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The theme this year of this year's St Patrick’s Day Parade is: The outstanding success of the Deposit Return Scheme.

“Most of the preparation is done at this stage. We're just putting the final touches to ensure everything is ready for March 16.

"It's a great community event for Ballymahon, it's always very well supported,” Pat says.

Businesses, schools and community groups are preparing the floats for the community event. Last year there were 40 floats taking to the streets: “We had seven primary schools, the pre-school, one the vocational school, and then the community, the sporting clubs, and then the businesses as well,” the parade organisers told.

The support for the event is wide ranging: “Our two main sponsors are KEPAK and the County Council, but all the local businesses in Ballymahon make it happen. Every business contributes to it. There is a great camaraderie between the business community, the sporting clubs, the voluntary sector, the farming sector, and all involved.

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“This year’s festivities will have something for everyone,” Pat says, “we are really looking forward to it. We will have the usual voluntary, community and businesses groups entering. It's a really enjoyable parade and gets celebrations off to a good start for St Patrick's Day.”

The annual festival regularly attracts over 3,500 people in Ballymahon. That additional footfall is huge for the businesses in the area.

It's a busy time for the south Longford town as Longford Ploughing Championships 2025 takes place on Sunday, March 23 at Drinan, Ballymahon, hosted by the Delaney family. The site is on the outskirts of Ballymahon, near a popular scenic walking trail along the banks of the Royal Canal.

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“It's all happening, weather permitting for the ploughing of course, in the space of a few days. We've our fingers crossed, on the weather front for both events. It's a real bonus when we get the good weather, and we're really looking forward to it,” Pat explained.

The categories are similar to previous years; the best float and overall winner will receive the perpetual cup.

Other categories are: most topical with a strong emphasis on the theme, best new entry, most humorous, environmental awareness, best turned-out shop window.

The parade will assemble at the usual point the Creevaghbeg Road well in advance of the 3:30pm start and the prize giving will take place that night at 8 o’clock in Cooney’s Hotel.