Ideas. Stories. Community.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Boulder celebrates St. Patrick's Day with one of the state's shortest parades

The Paddy O'Furniture Drill Team is a crowd favorite at the annual Boulder St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Maeve Conran
/
Rocky Mountain Community Radio
The Paddy O'Furniture Drill Team is a crowd favorite at the annual Boulder St. Patrick's Day Parade.

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations took place across the region over the weekend, with parades and festivities marking Ireland's national holiday.

In Denver, thousands gathered Saturday for the city’s 63rd annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, one of the oldest and largest in the country.

Salt Lake City also hosted its 47th annual parade Saturday, drawing crowds to celebrate Irish heritage in Utah.

Boulder's parade took a different approach, marching just one city block downtown.

The event featured pipers, step dancers, Irish wolfhounds, and the crowd-favorite Paddy O’Furniture Lawn Chair Drill Team.

Julie Corson, right, and other members of the Paddy O'Furniture Drill Team at the Boulder St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 15, 2025.
Maeve Conran
/
Rocky Mountain Community Radio
Julie Corson, right, and other members of the Paddy O'Furniture Drill Team at the Boulder St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 15, 2025.

Julie Corson, a member of the troupe, said the drill team has been a longtime staple of the parade but took a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past five years, it has been revitalized with new members.

“It is a lot of fun with lawn chairs. We do drills, and we sing songs, and we dance, and we make people feel happy on St. Patrick’s Day,” Corson said.

The Boulder event has long billed itself as the "world's shortest St. Patrick's Day parade," though several communities across the country also claim the title.

Copyright 2025 Rocky Mountain Community Radio. This story was shared via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, including KSJD

Related Content
  • This week on Regional Roundup: the impact of recreation on public lands, immigration law updates, a Moab prom tradition, and a Jackson protest supporting park employees.
  • This week on Regional Roundup, we commemorate the 10th Mountain Division’s WWII heroics, check out Mixed Doubles Curling trials, and discuss housing costs and wildfire insurance issues.
  • This week on Regional Roundup: Rallies for immigrants, Sen. Bennet’s pledge for public lands, efforts in the West to take control of federal lands, and bird population decline.