St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t always the sham-rockin’ celebration people know and love today.
Originally, St. Patrick’s Day was a somber feast day observed in Ireland for cultural reflection and religious observation. The day it’s held, March 17th, is believed to be the day St. Patrick died and, as such, was seen as a time to reflect on his teachings and observe religious guidelines, such as sobriety. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that the holiday truly became the flashy, festive, and brew-tiful extravaganza people look forward to every year.
But let’s go back a little further to the history of the person the holiday is named after.
Saint Patrick wasn’t always known as a Saint or even as Patrick. He was born to a wealthy family in Roman Britain around 385-390 A.D. under the name Maewyn Succat. He was captured at age 16 and sold into slavery in Ireland where he served as a shepherd until he eventually escaped six years later. He then went on to return to Ireland as an adult to spread the word of God and the Christian gospel among the Irish people. He only adopted the name Patrick when he was ordained as a priest.
He is best known for, as the legends say, utilizing a three-leaf clover as an example to explain the Christian Faith’s “Holy Trinity” to the people he ministered to in Ireland. Additionally, according to another legend, St. Patrick also drove all of the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea after some had attacked him while he was fasting on a mountain.
While the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day has a long and rich history in Ireland, it wasn’t popularized in America until 1762 when Irish soldiers marched to celebrate their patron saint through the streets of New York. While the holiday wasn’t named an official event in New York until 1848, this parade in particular gave the green light for many other cities and states nearby to celebrate St. Patrick by holding parades as well.
And today, March 14th, 2026, Denham Springs kept that very same tradition alive with their St. Patrick's Day Parade presented by the Denham Springs Main Street organization.
A sizable turnout of interested families were seen lining up in driveways and parking lots along the parade route up to two hours before the event even began in order to get the best spots available.
The parade, which started off with a police motorcycle and squad car procession, led the charge by going back and forth through the street to high-five families and children who lined the sides of the main street in droves. Candy flew from bike and car alike as a procession of antique and sport cars followed, leaving many children screaming with joy and scrambling to pick up the sweet treats while others looked on at the vehicles in awe.
The parade rolled from Denham Springs High School and down Range Avenue to end at Veterans Boulevard and featured several massive floats, all festively decked in green and gold, as well as two fire trucks and at least three dance groups dancing their way down the street.
Many of the floats threw strings of beads, stuffed animals, and other small toys to the children and others made sure to give parents a lucky chance to catch green hats, commemorative cups, and stress balls.
While the parade was swift to proceed through the streets and onto the next phases of its route downtown, many opportunities to play around and make fun memories were available thanks to the continued celebration of this wonderful and historically rich holiday.
All photos by Rusti and Ray Photography
