POTTSVILLE, Pa. — People lined the streets in the city of Pottsville, decked out in their best green, orange and white to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
"Everybody loves St. Patrick's Day. Everybody is Irish on St Paddy's day whether you are or not," said Daryl Emerich of Schuylkill Haven.
As the 48th annual St. Patrick's day parade made it's way through the city, parade goers say they're happy they lucked out with good weather.
"It's a nice day, it's not raining or snowing so this great to be outside and celebrate the Irish heritage," said Tim Coyle of Pottsville,
"Oh, I just thought it was a beautiful day, it's my first time in Pottsville for the parade. We've come up here before, but never did the parade. Its pretty awesome," said Emerich.
Organizers say this year's parade was nearly double the size of last year's. Complete with three different pipe bands, high school bands and dozens of other community groups marching or riding around on floats.
"To me, it's a throwback to the old Pottsville when these parades were really really big so I love the tradition," said Coyle.
"I'm Irish, so my family really honors our Irish traditions. What's nice about this, is it's good for the kids, good for the city and it's good for everyone to come together and celebrate something positive," said Gretchen Whitman of Pottsville.
The extra foot traffic downtown also makes for a busy day for bars, restaurants and other small businesses. Jackie Demchar says she saw lots of new faces in her shop before the parade stepped off.
"There are a lot of small businesses In downtown Pottsville I think that people don't get to see or know about and when you have parades going on like this they get to experience that, walk around and shop. It's not just about the bars," said Demcher, owner of Kitty Lou Boutique.