ABC7 Chicago celebrates St. Patrick's Day in Chicago with live parade special
Tune in to ABC7 at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 11
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Everyone's Irish around St. Patrick's Day, and ABC 7's going all-in on the green to showcase one of Chicago's most cherished traditions, the 68th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, airing Saturday, March 11 at 12:30 p.m.
ABC7's LIVE, two-hour broadcast will embrace the sights, sounds and fun of an Irish celebration in Chicago along with highlights of another famous Chicago tradition, dyeing the Chicago River green, a yearly event since 1962.
ABC 7's honorary Irish hosts, anchor Judy Hsu and Meteorologist Larry Mowry, will be in the broadcast booth and will be providing parade color commentary along with Karen Ryan, producer of a documentary detailing the history of Chicago's St. Patrick's Day Parade. ABC 7 Reporter Liz Nagy will cover all the excitement and pageantry on the street.
ABC7's parade coverage will feature perennial favorites including bagpipers, Irish step dancers, floats, marching bands and marching politicians that make this one of the most celebrated events in Chicago.
The 2023 parade theme is "Recognizing Workers' Rights," with Timothy Drea, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, serving as the grand marshal. CLLR Danny Collins, Mayor of Cork County, Ireland, is the guest of honor.
And no St. Patrick's Day parade is complete without the smiling Irish eyes of the queen. This year's reigning monarch is Casey Doherty who, when not performing her royal duties, works in Chicago as a data privacy consultant. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and DePaul Law School.
Casey said, "It's an amazing honor representing Chicago's Irish community and Plumbers Local Union 130. I've been on the St. Patrick's Day court twice before and as they saying goes, 'the third time is the charm." It also makes being queen that much more meaningful."
The St. Patrick's Day parade, which will run south to north on Columbus Drive, is organized by the Chicago Plumber's Union Local 130, James F. Coyne, general chairman of parade.
About ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago
ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago is the No. 1 local news source and most-watched television station in Chicago. With top-rated daily newscasts spanning decades and the largest social media presence in the market with more than 2.6 million Facebook followers, ABC7 Eyewitness News provides breaking news, investigative reporting, weather, politics, traffic and sports in the multiplatform space to Chicago, the suburbs and northwest Indiana. Named Best News Operation by the Associated Press for four consecutive years, ABC 7 Eyewitness News produces "Chicago Proud," a series of features that spotlights everyday heroes in and around Chicago. The station also produces the highest-rated New Year's Eve special in Chicago, holiday kickoff special "The Magnificent Mile Lights Festival," syndicated to a national audience, as well as the award-winning program series "Our Chicago," which showcases the city's diversity and highlights contributions in the Black, Hispanic, Asian, LGBTQ+ communities, among others. Every Friday, Windy City Weekend, entertains while giving Chicagoans everything they need to know about what's happening in the city. ABC 7 is the only Chicago station producing and broadcasting parades representing Chicago's rich cultural history. In addition to producing town halls focused on current social issues, the station has a long and proud tradition of broadcasting political candidate debates keeping Chicago's electorate informed. ABC7's outreach efforts include annual partnerships with the Red Cross for life-saving blood drives, one of the biggest one-day drives in the country and, most recently, spearheading an effort to raise more than $1.5 million for area food pantries.
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