By Doug Draper
St. Patrick’s Day, in all its greenery, seems like the perfect prelude to the first day of spring, and no city or town in our greater binational region anticipates it with as much gusto as Buffalo.

This spirited group gathered early for Buffalo's St. Patrick's Day Parade. See more pictures by Doug Draper of the Buffalo St. Patty celebrations below.
Maybe it is because Buffalo – located right inside the bulls eye, at the stormy eastern tip of Lake Erie – is famous for bearing so much of the brunt of our long, cold winters. Or maybe its because the city has hosted one of the larger populations of Irish Catholics per capita, going back to the heyday of the Erie Canal and its formative years as an industrial powerhouse in the 1800s.
Whatever the reason, Buffalo’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which marched up Delaware Avenue to waves of cheers for more than two hours this past Sunday, March 14 and three days before St Patrick’s Day this March 17, is our region’s equivalent of the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Continue reading

