By Rosie Vacciana-Browne
A St Patrick’s Day parade filled with music, dance and flags will be held in Leicester this Sunday.
The Emerald Centre has organised the parade that will start at Holy Cross Church in New Walk at midday.
It will then move through the city centre, before finishing at Jubilee Square.
Between 500 and 600 people are expected to participate in the celebrations, and they will be just a fraction of the those that will celebrating worldwide.
Community Manager of the Emerald Centre, Tony Cusack, explained the origins of the day and why it is celebrated so widely across nations.
He said: “St Patrick was a bishop in Ireland dating back to the 4th century.
“He was taken over as a slave, but he managed to escape and went to France where he learned about religion for 20 years.
“He then came back and brought Christianity with him.
“He brought Christianity to Ireland, and that’s his story.”
St Patrick went on to build churches that are still pilgrimaged to today and used the Shamrock (the Irish three-leaf clover) to preach the story of God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit.
Now the Patron Saint of Ireland, there are many tales that surround St Patrick, one of these being that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland.
Mr Cusack explained: “It is a bit of folklore.
“However, there are grass snakes in England, but there are no snakes in Ireland.”
The Emerald Centre’s parade is one of many across the globe, with Irish and non-Irish communities celebrating the event.
Speaking on the enormity of St Patrick’s Day, Mr Cusack said: “It’s a celebration of Irish culture and keeps it alive, it’s all about music dance and friendship.
“People like to celebrate these things.”
The parade in Leicester will be free and an after party will be held at The Nott’s Club from 1.30pm-5pm.
Tickets will be £5 and can be purchased at the parade.
