Boston’s annual celebration of St. Patrick’s Day —along with commemorative events to recall the liberation of the city from imperial British troops in 1776 — is well underway and will culminate Sunday with the traditional parade in South Boston starting at 1 p.m. The Irish-themed parade typically brings in hundreds of thousands of spectators and will result in road closures and restricted hours for neighborhood bars and select stores.

On Friday morning (March 15), a free public ceremony is planned to mark Evacuation Day, which remains a Suffolk County-wide holiday on March 17, although it is no longer observed as a “day-off” for schoolkids or workers.

On that date in March 1776, British occupiers fled Boston under the menace of cannons mounted by colonial rebels atop Dorchester Heights—which was at the time part of the town of Dorchester. Friday’s ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. at the Edgerley Family South Boston Boys & Girls Club, 230 West Sixth St.

The event is typically held at the Dorchester Heights Monument, but has been re-located since the monument itself is undergoing a $30 million restoration project. According to the National Parks Service, which owns and manages the monument site, the work will be completed before by March 17, 2026, during the nation’s 250th birthday year.

On Saturday, a St. Patrick’s Day brunch will be held at St. Teresa of Calcutta church, 800 Columbia Rd. Now in its 15th year, the event serves as a benefit for the Mary Ann Brett Food Pantry and honors men and women of distinction. This year’s honorees include former Boston City Councillor Frank Baker and Latoyia Edwards, NBC10 Boston news anchor. The event will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the parish hall.

Also on March 15, the Dorchester-based Irish Pastoral Centre will host a celebration of St. Patrick’s Day at Florian Hall, 55 Hallet St., Dorchester. The event begins with a Mass and blessing of shamrocks at 11 a.m. A corned beef dinner will be followed by music and dancing with Erin’s Melody until 3 p.m. Pre-registration is required and tickets are $30. Go to ipcboston.org.

The annual St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast hosted by state Sen. Nick Collins will take place at the Ironworkers Local 7 Union Hall on Sunday, the holiday. The event will be broadcast to a wider audience with NECN and NESN and WROL Radio beginning at 9:30 a.m. A live TV broadcast will begin at 10 a.m. Invited guests include Gov. Maura Healey, US Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Mayor Michelle Wu. Sunday’s parade in South Boston begins at 1 p.m. at Broadway Station. The parade, which dates back to 1901, ends at Andrew Station.

This past Monday, (March 11) Dorchester’s John F. Kennedy Library welcomed Ireland’s prime minister or “An Taoiseach,” Leo Varadkar, who delivered an address to a packed audience in the library’s Stephen Smith room.
The Kennedy Library will also host a free St. Patrick’s Day program for kids 5 and up on Sat., March 16, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. featuring the Greene-O’Leary School of Irish Dance. The event is part of the library’s ongoing Celebrate series. Go to jfklibrary.org/celebrate or call 617-514-1644 to register.

Also this weekend, the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton hosts a two-day celebration with Irish music, food, arts and crafts and more. See irishculture.org for a full line-up and ticket information.

For more in-depth coverage of local and regional Irish-American events, see our sister publication, BostonIrish.com.