New York, USA – The 265th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade kicked off on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan on March 17, 2026, with the FDNY leading the procession.

Firefighters in full dress uniforms, adorned with green sashes, marched alongside the Emerald Society Pipes & Drums. Bagpipes played as Irish flags waved and the lead units stepped off from East 44th Street under bright sunny skies, cheered on by packed crowds lining the barricaded sidewalks.

Handheld footage captured the colorful spectacle, showing uniformed personnel, gleaming fire apparatus, and traditional pipe band members moving in unison past iconic skyscrapers and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the distance.

The parade proceeded on schedule at 11 a.m., drawing over 150,000 marchers and nearly 2 million spectators, despite a rooftop fire that had erupted earlier just one block away at 6 East 43rd Street.

“And we’re off,” the FDNY poster noted, highlighting the department’s role in leading segments of the world’s oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

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