Where is the best spot to watch the Kansas City St. Patrick's Day parade from?

Kansas City's 40th Annual St. Patrick's Day parade celebration makes its mark as one of the largest and most notable parade celebrations of all things Irish in the United States. In 2010, the parade has moved from the streets of downtown to midtown--with the whole parade ending in Westport. On this day, the emerald green wave of floats, leprechauns, and Lucky Charms will head through midtown and down Broadway...turning everyone along the way just a wee bit Irish.

The first St. Patrick’s Day celebrations stem back to 19th Century Kansas City— as the Irish population exploded so did their parades. However, after many years of glory, the parade fizzled in the late 1800’s and the grand celebrations seized. In 1973, knowing that Kansas Citians were always up for some sort of party, Kansas City’s favorite talk show host, Mike Murphy, and his pals Pat O’Neill and Dan Hoggerty “resurrected” the Irish Parade over drinks at Hoggerty’s local watering hole downtown.

The ‘73 version consisted of a painted green calf and was billed “the shortest and worst parade” in history. Since then a lot has changed (over 500,000 watched in '05) making it one of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the country. This year’s theme is 4o Years of Fáilte, a fitting tribute to the 40th year of the parade.

2012's St. Patrick's Parade Grand Marshall is Kathy Quinn, tv personality. The parade will start at 33rd/Linwood at Broadway, head south on Broadway and ends at 43rd Street in Westport. Parade is from 11:00am-1:00pm (approx).

The 2012 St. Patrick’s Day Celebration is broadcast live on WDAF-TV Channel 4 from 11-2. In addition to the traditional parade floats, the 2012 St. Patrick's Day Parade features giant Irish themed balloons similar to those you see at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Make sure you stay on the same side of the parade as where you parked.

If you park on the West side and end up watching the parade on the East, you’re in some serious trouble. You can’t cross over, so you’ll have to walk all the way back to the starting or ending point to get back to your car. Trust me—it happened to me in 2004!

In recent years, the parade committee has thrown up a bunch of barricades, making it next to impossible to jump across…just in case you thought that might work. There are plenty of Irish celebrating before, during and way after the parade. Check out my St. Patty's Day Drinks for ideas.