SCRANTON, Pa. — The sound of bagpipes won't be willing the streets of Scranton this weekend, this for the second year in a row.
This year's Saint Patrick's Day celebration was postponed to the fall because of the coronavirus.
However, bars and restaurants are making do. Waldorf Park is hosting a "non-parade parade day party". Tickets sold out.
"We did a controlled amount of ticket sales. The governor's requirements are no more than 250 people outside so we took steps to sell tickets so that that's all the people we'll have here at one time," Joe Wechsler of Waldorf said.
The Friday night before parade day is usually pretty busy for bars. We found few people headed out without a parade.
Cooper's Seafood House is normally a popular spot, just off the parade route. This year there will be no special celebration, just some Irish food on the menu as a consolation.
"We were definitely bummed out. It's usually such a busy day for us and so to have two years in a row to lose that much profit, definitely hurts us," Jesse Cooper of Cooper's Seafood House said.
Ale Mary's in downtown Scranton is also packed on parade day. This year, this Saturday will just be like any other Saturday during the pandemic.
"It's a great day for money, you have a whole lot of fun with the friends that you work with, and you get to see people you haven't seen in a while. With this whole restriction thing going on, canceling it not once but two years in a row, it's kind of a damper," Ale Mary's server Mike Rufus said.
The Scranton Saint Patrick's Day Parade is postponed to Saturday, September 18th.