It’s never too early to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Countryside.
Ald. Scott Musillami (3rd), who chairs the city council’s Special Events Committee, said the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held on Saturday, March 1.
That is the earliest the parade has been held.
As in previous years, the parade is held well before St. Patrick’s Day because it can be difficult to book Irish dance groups and bagpipe bands that are often in high demand in the Chicago area in March.
“Typically, we have (the parade) the first Saturday of March to avoid conflicts with other towns,” said Ald. John Finn, who chairs the city’s parade committee. “We’re in the process (of lining up parade entrants).”
The parade queen and her court will be named when the city council meets at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, Finn said.
Applications for parade entries and parade queen are being accepted at https://www.countryside-il.org/
Musillami announced dates for three other events at the city council’s Jan. 22 meeting.
The Back to School Fair will be held Saturday, Aug. 9.
The Bluegrass Festival will be held Saturday, Aug. 16, in Countryside Pak.
The weekly Concerts in the Park, also in Countryside Park, will begin Thursday, June 12, and run into the second week of August, Musillami said.
Bands have yet to be hired for the bluegrass festival and concerts in the park.
The city’s annual winter fest held on Jan. 18, “was a huge success” with “wall to wall people inside the (Flagg Creek) clubhouse,” Musillami said.
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