HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The 43rd Annual Ellen McAnally Memorial St. Patrick's Day Parade has been canceled due to concern of the spread of COVID-19.
The Irish Society of North Alabama issued a statement about the cancellation Thursday afternoon.
"After much discussion and deliberation with Irish Society board members, city officials, and our wonderful parade sponsors, we have made the difficult and heartbreaking decision to cancel the Huntsville St. Patrick’s Day Parade. This is the first time in 43 years that we have had to cancel the parade.
We ultimately decided that we could not proceed with an event that could potentially cause unintended risk to any of our family members, attendees, sponsors, volunteers, or the Huntsville community. While we enjoy the parade, as many of you do, we had to put the safety and welfare of the parade community first.
At this time, and due to the precautions being advised nationwide, we have no plans to reschedule the parade for 2020. We sincerely apologize for the disappointment we know that this brings to the many of you have come to enjoy the parade, year after year.
Again, a HUGE thank you to our wonderful sponsors, the City of Huntsville, and YOU…our wonderful parade community for all your understanding and support."
At this time, there are no confirmed conoranvirus cases in Alabama.
