Katie-George Dunlevy to be Grand Marshal at London St Patrick’s Day Parade

Irish Paralympic gold medallist Katie-George Dunlevy has been honoured with being selected as Grand Marshal for the London St Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday 16th March.

Dunlevy, who has strong Donegal links through her proud Mountcharles-born father, John, will share the honour with another Irish Olympic gold medallist, boxer Kellie Harrington.

This annual event has become a highlight of London’s cultural calendar, bringing together visitors and Londoners alike to celebrate the many contributions the Irish community have made to our great city.

Expect a multitude of green as we take over central London for the spectacular parade with exciting floats, marching bands, dance troupes and pageantry, which can be found winding its way from Hyde Park, past Trafalgar Square and onto Whitehall, where it ends. 

Dunlevy and Harrington have been two of the most successful Irish athletes at recent Olympics and Paralympics. Katie-George has won gold at the last three Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Paris while Harrington has won gold at both Tokyo and Paris.

“Looking forward to it. Mum and dad are coming up to it as well. It is a great honour for myself and Kellie. It’s great to be asked. It is a sort of icing on the cake and another homecoming of sorts.

“I would have had a homecoming in Mountcharles after Paris and this is another homecoming. I’m really looking forward to it,” said Katie-George.

The paracyclist is looking forward to another busy year with a training camp in Majorca on 22nd March.

“I have been training away indoors and I have my first competition in Belgium at the end of April and my first World Cup event after that in Italy.”

Katie-George will be linking up with her tandem partner, Linda Kelly, on the camp and she says they will have another camp in July..

“I haven’t been out on a bike since the Olympics, it has been all indoors, so my mental state needs to get out on the bike now. Linda has been out in all weathers so she is ready for the nicer weather.”

The schedule includes the National Championships with the big event being the World Championships in Belgium at the end of August.

For the London St Patrick’s Day parade, Trafalgar Square will be a hive of activity with a main stage hosted by Irish-Indian-Malaysian DJ and broadcaster, Tara Kumar, and a world class line up of Irish acts programmed by London Irish Centre including Kila, Irish Women in Harmony and Rag-CV.

There will be an array of stalls, food delights, and, of course, a bar.

Plus, this year, we’re delighted to bring you three new offerings: Irish Creative Collective Sessions, where you can enjoy a line-up of comedy, music, spoken word, and Irish Film and TV film shorts; the Irish Dance Workshops, where you can learn some basic Irish dancing steps; the wonderful Peace Heroines Exhibition,showcasing some of Ireland’s unsung women heroes.

Celebrity chef Anna Haugh is back to delight us with her culinary treats, this time under the guise of her new venture, The Wee Sisters, a wine and food bar celebrating Irish fayre.

About this year's theme: This year’s theme focuses on sustainability and greening London, and we happily welcome Artburst to the festival, who will be running interactive workshops in the Children’s Zone using recycled and reused material to create headdresses, bunting and a giant mural.

Living, breathing and cycling sustainability we’re also really excited to be able to share clips from 'The Song Cycle', a new film documenting Nick Kelly and his band Dogs cycling and performing all the way from Dublin to Glastonbury to perform at the festival last year.

Promoting the sustainability of both travel and music, we’re thrilled to announce that they’ll be doing the same again, cycling from Dublin to London to join us on the parade and then performing on the main stage.