The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Woodbridge, NJ this year was held on Sunday, March 8, 2026. The participants march from Woodbridge High School to Main St. with over tens of thousands of annual spectators. Generally, the common traditions consist of wearing green or shamrocks for good luck, going to parades, or eating meals like corned beef and cabbage.

A timely tradition

Sophomore Sarah Pachucki participated in the parade this year for Woodbridge High School’s marching band, and has previously been part of the parade for girl scouts. Pachucki enjoys this event because she gets to see families, friends, and people all come together and just be happy as one community.

“To me, St. Patrick’s Day means to celebrate Irish culture and have everyone dress up and have fun together,” said Pachucki, “This parade is special to me because I get to be a part of it and celebrate with the marching band, and it’s fun to see everybody dressed up and just to participate in something that’s for the whole town and not just for the school.”

She believes this event really brings people together from all the towns within Woodbridge Township to see the different performances, music, cars, and groups while still celebrating something that might not pertain to everyone but still unites us as a community to celebrate and have fun. Though Pachucki has no ancestral link to Irish culture, she still finds that the parades and wearing the color green are meaningful and have a deep connection to the holiday.

At the end of the parade, Pachucki hopes that everyone that attended can leave with a better understanding of the holiday as well as good memories to follow. She also states that if the parade were canceled for the upcoming year, she would be upset because of how much she enjoys taking part in this event, as well as seeing everyone just showing up.

However, other than parades, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated through many different ways around the world, like eating Irish soda bread or lamb stew, drinking Guinness, and attending Irish music sessions.

A storied history

St. Patrick’s Day, just like any holiday, has its own origin with its own meaning. Based on online sources, St. Patrick’s Day was a religious feast day to honor the death of St. Patrick, a young, teenage Patrick, a boy from Britain, was enslaved and brought to Ireland. He later escaped and returned to Ireland as a missionary to convert pagans.

Executive Board Member of the Irish Club in Woodbridge, Cindy Jacovinich has been on the American Irish Association’s St Patrick’s Day Parade Committee since 2010 and has been attending St. Patrick’s Day parades for about 31 years now and counting. The St. Patrick’s Day parade is actually planned through the committee in cooperation with the township, which is made clear by Mayor McCormac, as well as giving proclamations to the honorees at the Irish Flag Raising.

“There is nearly a year-long process to prepare for the parade,” said Jacovinich, “All the fundraising, scheduling, and planning is done by our Irish club and in cooperation with the township so it is always a successful event.”

The American Irish Association of Woodbridge, established in 1966, is 60 years old this year. The 52nd annual parade was held on March 8, mathematically making the first parade held by the club in 1975.

Jacovinich was titled Irish Woman of the Year back in 2018 and has physically been in the parade for about 16 years. Throughout the years participating, she can clearly see the faces of so many nationalities and various ages along the whole parade route. She even notices that many of the families have several generations celebrating together.

“The parade definitely brings everyone together because as the saying goes ‘Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!’”

As far as origin, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t only honoring St. Patrick himself, but also about evolving through Irish immigration into a celebration of Irish culture. Today, the holiday combines both religious and secular traditions enjoyed worldwide.

Historical Background

As St. Patrick’s Day is considered to be linked to Christianity, the holiday has fallen on a Friday during Lent approximately 34 times. Jacovinich gives insight that some Bishops provide acceptance of consuming meat that day, while other Bishops suggest sacrificing something different to make up for it. Examples include attending mass, praying the rosary, giving to the poor, etc. The shamrock is significant to St. Patrick’s Day and its link to Christianity through the demonstration done by St. Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity.

“The three leaves are part of the one plant, and that is similar to the three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are part of one Supreme Being,” said Jacovinich.

For Jacovinich, she shares Irish culture through both sides of her parents. She and her family celebrated with the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner. With her musical background coming from her father, she was able to sing traditional Irish songs with her family, keeping the tradition going year after year.

“I enjoy being connected to people who share the same background and some who were also born there,” said Jacovinich.

She is also proud of all the work her club does for the community, including park cleanups, tooling around the town, handicap ramps, visits to the Menlo Park Veteran’s home, scholarships and more.

Having St. Patrick’s Day parades in our community is a great way to come out and see all sorts of people outside to celebrate. Not everyone knows exactly why this parade and holiday started, but they know what it means to them and why they decide to show up each year.

A parade day for everyone

Sophomore Evannah Obando is an annual attendee to the St. Patrick’s Day parades held in Woodbridge. She actually participated for the first time in last year’s parade for musical, where she and her group sang and danced at the parade.

Obando believes that St. Patrick’s Day parades bring so many more people together because of how popular the holiday is. She feels that the parades are made both to gather people together while still celebrating Irish culture. Obando enjoys the environment and unity within the community, along with the company of her friends.

“Even though I’m Hispanic, I feel like just being included and wearing green just makes me feel good to be there even though I’m not Irish,” she says, “I feel like people put in a lot of work and thought into this parade,” said Obando. “A lot of people perform too, which takes a lot of dedication.”

Photographing the event is significant to her because it’s a good memory to look back on every year along with the scenery and people themselves. Obando loves the thought of just being outside for this event every year, and the thought of it being canceled would take a big toll on her emotions.
Despite the differences between how people celebrate and why they celebrate, the conclusion still ends up at the point that St. Patrick’s Day is a very significant holiday, and still continues to bring people together regardless of knowing its background or not.

This holiday is celebrated through many different ways, and most people of Irish culture choose to celebrate not only for the fun, but because they feel deeply connected to their Irish roots and feel that the holiday is a day to celebrate who they are.