Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Old Sacramento with parade and all-day festival

After battling the long line of cars to get into the parking garage, Sacramentans of all ages donned green attire and brought their most festive Irish spirit Saturday afternoon at Sacramento’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival, a tradition that dates back at least 40 years.

Even though the sun beat down from the cloudless sky, the heat didn’t stop thousands of children and parents, nanas and papas, and even some four-legged friends from snagging front-row seats to the parade. Some spectators wore bright green hats, while others chose green shirts or knee-high socks to show their Irish pride.

On the corner of Second and K streets, the Vengelen family stood patiently waiting for the bagpipers of the Sacramento Fire Fighters Pipes and Drums corps. Ryan Vengelen sprayed his red bushy beard with bright green hairspray and said his family has roots in both Ireland and Germany. His son Ashton sported a green-sprayed mohawk, and wife Tiffany held baby Juniper, who wore bright green sunglasses and a green headband with shamrocks. The family lives in Auburn and usually drives to San Francisco for St. Patrick’s Day festivities, but this year they stayed closer to home to celebrate.

As the musicians marched by, firefighters in uniform placed strings of green beads into the eager outstretched hands of kids and adults alike.

Across the street, Josh Hardwick stood in his Royal Stewart tartan kilt as he and his family watched their first-ever Sacramento St. Patrick’s Day parade. Hardwick said he didn’t know about the tradition until his wife told him about it.

As for the kilt, “it’s more Scottish, but who cares?” said Hardwick, who says he has Irish and Scottish ancestors. “I’m both a McCabe and a Quinn.”

Girl Scouts Rayah Feltus, 15, and Emiliee Palow, 16 worked the crowd selling cookies. Unsurprisingly, Thin Mints were their best sellers — fitting for the occasion, given their green boxes. Since it was the last weekend to make sales, the girls hoped to gather enough orders to meet their fundraising goal. The troop is raising money for a trip to Puerto Rico.

Toward the end of the parade, Cindy Ashley of Sacramento watched the floats go by, a beer in one hand and a leash with her two dogs in the other. Long red hair framed the emerald green sunglasses on her freckled face. Her dogs, Khaleesi and Gracie, showed their Irish spirit by wearing bright green tutus. Ashley also named her Maltese “Gracie” after the famous Irish pirate, Grace O’Malley.

Although she grew up in Sacramento, Ashley spent most of her adult life living in Las Vegas before moving back in 2021 during the pandemic. To her, the parade is more than just a way to celebrate her Irish roots.

“It’s nice to be home,” Ashley said. “We’ve got to stand up and represent.”

As a teenager, Ashley remembers one year she marched in the parade dressed up as an Irish princess in a traditional, beautiful green silken dress. She and her father, a circus clown, won first place in the parade float contest that year, she said.

“I got probably 20 proposals that day,” Ashley said, laughing. “You know, I was young, there were all these drunk people and it was just hilarious.”