Boston officials are hoping to avoid too much "tomfoolery" during this year's St. Patrick's Day parade in Southie by starting festivities an hour earlier.
The parade is scheduled for Sunday, March 16, but will start at 11:30am — an hour earlier than usual — in order to wrap up earlier.
State Senator Nick Collins, Boston City Councillor Ed Flynn, and other officials sent a joint letter to the state's college and high school associations explaining their desires to see the "anything goes" attitude of last year's parade tamped down.
“The parade will be starting earlier this year in an attempt to get a better handle on the tomfoolery. Last year, there were regrettable moments at the parade that we don’t want to see repeated this time around,” Collins told the Dorchester Reporter.
Last year, four individuals were captured on video beating another person just two blocks from the parade. The footage went viral on social media. Another video captured two men openly brawling in the street, and security footage captured a group of revelers tearing down a city street sign.
Minors were suspected of smuggling alcohol using the city’s public transportation and at least one person was accused of public urination onto a Southie resident’s property.
The letter was sent to the college and high school associations in hopes that they will spread the word to schools — and ultimately students — that there will be consequences for chaos and debauchery at this year's parade.
Flynn, who is serving as the parade's general chairman, said in the letter that he has been holding a monthly task force meeting with officials and agencies in the city to work to improve public safety and curb disorderly conduct at this year's event.
“Following last year’s unacceptable violence and public drinking at the Evacuation Day Parade,” said Flynn, “I convened a monthly meeting and task force with the South Boston elected officials, South Boston Allied War Veterans Council and city and state agencies, including the Boston Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, MBTA Transit Police, and the Boston Parks Department, among others," the letter says. "This task force and partners in the community have met multiple times since then to prepare and discuss public safety for all and restore a family-friendly environment at this year’s parade.”
Immediately after last year's event, Flynn called for a "zero tolerance" policy on public drinking, and even considered moving the parade out of Southie, breaking with years of tradition.
“With almost a million visitors to South Boston for the parade, we can’t sustain an ‘anything goes’ attitude in the neighborhood,” Flynn said.
This year's parade will follow its traditional route, and it appears Flynn aims to focus more on Evacuation Day in hopes it will curb some of the harder partying and drinking. Evacuation Day is typically celebrated in Boston on March 17, and commemorates when the British pulled out of the city following the Siege of Boston in 1776. St. Patrick's Day and Evacuation Day are typically celebrated in tandem.
“I have made it a priority to ensure that the focus of the parade returns to Evacuation Day and honoring our veterans, military families, first responders, as well as our proud immigrant history and families that came to our city in search of a better life," Flynn said in a statement.
He and the other signatories on the letter implored visitors to the neighborhood to "show some common courtesy and respect to the residents" of Southie and to "operate under the golden rule" during the event.
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