Natchez — A sea of people dressed in green will march along Main Street on Saturday evening for this year’s 28th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade.

This year’s St. Patrick, Eddie Walker, said parade participants would line up at 5:30 p.m. in front of St. Mary’s Family Life Center on Main Street across from the church. The parade will begin at 6 p.m.

As is tradition, Walker said the parade would follow Main Street to the gazebo, where Saint Patrick will throw rubber snakes over the bluff.

Walker said anyone is welcome to dive into the sea of green and participate in the parade whether they are Irish or not. As they say, everyone is Irish for St. Patrick’s Day.

The parade is hosted by the Krewe of Killarney, which gets its name from a historic town in Ireland.

“It’s akin to riding in a Mardi Gras float,” Walker said of participating in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, “seeing your friends in the crowd and throwing them beads. It’s just a good, warm and happy feeling.”

Walker said he’s confident many Natchez residents will show up to watch the parade if not march in it.

“We don’t have to beg (people) to line up to see it,” Walker said. “They know it’s going to be a fun parade.”

Story by Sabrina Simms