The New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade is our country’s oldest and proudest Irish tradition, marching for the first time 250 years ago, on March 17, 1762 - fourteen years before the Declaration of Independence.

Today, the New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all operating expenses come from private donations. New York City provides no financial assistance for the parade nor does any other government agency.

From its earliest days, right up to the present time, our parade has been run entirely by volunteers, many of whom come from generations of families dedicated to the organization of the parade. It takes months of preparation and countless hours of time to run the world’s oldest and largest parade and we could not do it without the commitment of these great men and women.