Massive St. Patrick's Day parade held in Vancouver

Some say the Irish have the most fun. Well, here in Vancouver on Sunday, everyone had the chance to party like the Irish as a massive crowd of people came out for the city's annual St. Patrick's Day parade.

Roughly 200,000 people flooded to downtown Vancouver for the 11th annual parade of St. Patrick's Day, a public holiday in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is also widely celebrated by Irish communities around the world, especially in Britain, the United States, Australia and Canada.

Pipe and drum bands, Celtic music, Scottish and Irish dancing, acrobatics, even vintage cars, were the main attractions in the parade.

The Vancouver Police Motorcycle Drill Team, fire and police dogs, mounted horse drill teams, multi-cultural organizations and performers also joined the crowd. There were even a few leprechauns, a type of fairy in Irish folklore, among the 2,000 participants in the parade.

Carrie Tait, an Irish descendent, said that she loves the parade because it brings people together to celebrate no matter what their background is.

"It means a lot, because there is not very many opportunities that is open to the whole world really about celebrating our culture," she said. "I grew up in a very traditional Irish family -- second and third generation Irish. So, my grandparents instilled all the stories and the heritage of where they came from."

A spectator called Ryann Sheridan said it was really a great fun to be there. "Because I used to be in parades for the Irish dance and that was probably my favorite part," he said.

Another spectator, Jim Miller, said he is not Irish, but that will not stop him from having a good time.

"I love all celebrations in this city, all festivals. I come to everything, you know. And if the next one is Yugoslavian, I'll come to that one too," he said. Endi