SCRANTON, Pa. — One of the biggest days of the year for downtown Scranton. The St. Patrick's Day Parade is set for this weekend and that means Scranton businesses are busy getting ready for the big day.
Parade Director Tom Gilbride says they're expecting twelve thousand people to march in the parade and that doesn't include parade goers who he hopes will show up despite the weather forecast.
"Looks like we're going to get lucky so far. It's not supposed to rain until 3 o'clock, so that's perfect. We"ll be done with the parade by 3 o'clock. Usually, we have anywhere from 100 to 150,000," said Gilbride.
Along the parade route is the Railyard Restaurant & Bar. They've been busy all day long getting ready to host the thousands of people who will walk through their doors on parade day.
From setting up the stage to getting all of their keg deliveries.
"Outside, we're going to have a pretty much parking lot party. Outside and inside, we have GOGO Gadget playing, um, starting around 1 p.m., and just putting everything together," said Jay Velar, owner of Railyard Restaurant & Bar.
Just across the street from the railyard, the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel is nearly sold out for the weekend. Event planners were setting up for their outdoor shamrock event.
"We're going to have a bunch of different performers here throughout the day, so if guests want to come in and stop by, we'd love to have them," said Olivia Rinaldi, Catering and events sales manager at Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel.
"This is going to be my first time ever attending this, so I'm actually pretty excited to see everything in scranton," added Kristen Jones, Wedding specialist at Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel.
Just a few steps from the parade route. Cooper's Seafood House is getting ready for one of its biggest days of the year.
"We have the two outside bars that we're getting all ready. We have four bars total that we're preparing, you know, getting beer stocked and you know, getting kegs loaded in, making throughways," said Jesse Cooper, Manager at Cooper's Seafood House & Brewery.
"Making sure that everything flows smoothly," added Cooper.
The parade will start at 11:45 a.m. on the corner of Wyoming Avenue and Mulberry Street, downtown, next to the St. Peter Cathedral, rain or shine!