Irish Day set for Oct. 1

Festival area reduced by several blocks to help cover costs

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The city and organizers of the annual St. Brendan the Navigator Irish Day Parade and Festival, scheduled for Oct. 1, reached an agreement last month to shrink the festival area on West Beech Street by several blocks as part of an effort to reduce the cost of the event and address residents’ quality-of-life concerns.

The agreement was reached after the city held discussions with members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 17, which organizes the event, beginning in late July, about possibly changing the parade route, moving vendors to the boardwalk and other proposals aimed at saving overtime and other costs, according to city officials and parade Chairman Bernie Petty.

The parade and festival, now in its 27th year, attracts thousands of visitors to the West End each year and is one of the largest — and most expensive — events in Long Beach, according to the city. Irish Day costs taxpayers more than $100,000 in police overtime, sanitation and other costs, officials say, and the event was nearly canceled four years ago after the city — in the midst of a fiscal crisis — said it could no longer assume all of the expenses.

In 2012, the city, the AOH and local businesses came to an agreement that limited the event’s hours, mandated that bars close earlier than they had in previous years and charged businesses to help cover the costs in order to keep the event manageable. After Hurricane Sandy, however, the businesses were no longer charged.

The initial proposals for changes in this year’s event were ultimately abandoned after the AOH said it did not have enough time to implement them, Petty said. “The city wanted us to offset the costs of the parade and change the entire spectrum of the parade,” he said, adding that money had already been spent on invitations and posters. “The city wanted us to reverse the parade route, so instead of ending in the West End we’d end in Westholme, at Hibernian Plaza on Park Avenue. We implored them that we didn’t have enough time.”

Petty also said that the AOH did not want to move the festival to the boardwalk or change the parade route, believing that the change would take away from the tradition of Irish Day. “The AOH didn’t feel it would be prudent to the community to change the tradition of the parade and festival by keeping the streets open after the parade,” he said. “We wanted to preserve the tradition of the St. Brendan the Navigator Irish Day Parade and Festival.”

“There is no change to the parade,” City Manager Jack Schnirman said. “We’re preserving the parade and festival for those that like to come and enjoy it, and we’re preventing and reducing the inconvenience to the residents in the area that are affected. We’re not trying to end [Irish Day] — we’re working with the AOH to preserve the festivities on that day, and we thank them for working with us to come to a compromise this year by curtailing the size of the festival.”

After the decision was made not to change the parade route or move vendors to the boardwalk, the city asked the AOH to cover the cost of the event’s cleanup, which Schnirman said totals $74,000. To bring that cost down, the AOH opted to reduce the festival area along West Beech Street by eight blocks. In the past it has stretched from New York Avenue west to Connecticut Avenue; this year it will extend from Delaware Avenue to Georgia Avenue. Keeping some streets open to traffic will result in less police overtime and other costs, Petty said.

The AOH will contribute $25,000 to the city, raised through private donations. “We didn’t know if we were even going to have Irish Day if we had to come up with the entire $74,000,” Petty said.

Since he became event chairman five years ago, he said, the AOH has been working with the city to change the image of Irish Day — which attracts up to 20,000 people each year — to make it more family-friendly and keep the focus on Irish heritage.

The parade will begin at Washington Boulevard and West Beech Street at 11 a.m. — City Court Judge Frank DeKranis will serve as grand marshal — and the festival includes vendors, rides, music, food and raffles along West Beech Street until 5 p.m. The city, meanwhile, will present a Kids’ Fun Zone from noon to 4 p.m. at West School, on Maryland Avenue.

Many bar owners have said that Irish Day helps them and other local businesses get through the slow winter months, and that they have taken steps to address noise and other issues that have been raised after past parades. As part of the 2012 agreement, bars will stop admitting customers at 1 a.m. on Sunday, and will have until 2 a.m. to clear everyone out, officials said.

Petty said that many nonprofit organizations, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Michelle O’Neill Foundation, the Long Beach Polar Bears and other local charities, rely on the event to raise money. It costs the AOH approximately $30,000 to stage the event, he said, which includes fees for pipe bands, portable bathrooms, tents, insurance and other expenses.

“Any proceeds from Irish Day are then reallocated into the community throughout the year,” Petty said. He added that the AOH plans to discuss ways to reduce costs with the city immediately after this year’s event. “One of the things that was also discussed was getting corporate vendors,” he said. “We had moved away from getting alcohol sponsors to not encourage drinking. But if we get corporate sponsors — this was a parade and festival created over 25 years ago to help the businesses get through the winter season, and it was a local celebration — we would lose control of the parade.”