St. Patrick's Day Parade in Hampton Bays canceled due to lack of volunteers

The Hampton Bays Hibernians' St. Patrick’s Day Parade will not be held this year, due to a shortage of volunteers, organizers said Monday.

The parade, which has been held by the Hampton Bays Ancient Order of Hibernians for the past 18 years, was postponed until next year after organizers said they did not have enough active members to help plan the event.

Members of the Hibernians had already raised the $40,000 needed to hold the parade, but several deaths in recent months of past members have left the committee that plans the parade down to five active members, said Hampton Bays Hibernians past president Bob Boden.

“It’s disappointing, but we don’t want to put on a haphazard event,” Boden said. “We have to get pipe bands lined up and commitments to floats. It takes a lot of work knocking on doors and it’s not easily done with just a few people.”

While organizers said the planned March 23 parade this year was postponed, they announced they still wanted to hold the March 22, 2025, parade as scheduled.

“We understand that so many people look forward to the parade and apologize to everyone in the community for this unforeseen circumstance,” they announced on their Facebook page and website. “The parade committee will be actively seeking new members in the coming months with the goal of restoring the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and implementing a long-term plan for continued success for generations to come.”

The Hibernians said their chapter was the first formed on the East End, in 2001. The parade attracts thousands of spectators, pipe bands and school marching bands, which usually takes place the Saturday after St. Patrick’s Day every year.

The event usually follows the Westhampton parade and is held before the Montauk parade. Hampton Bays has attracted a variety of participants, including several Latin American and Asian organizations, Boden said.

In lieu of this year’s parade, the Hampton Bays Hibernians plan to continue to offer several scholarships to “unsung heroes” in schools, Boden said. The organization is starting plans for next year’s parade while attempting to attract new volunteers.

“It was a tough decision to say no, but we can’t do it,” Boden said. “We feel really bad to just stop, but there’s plenty of time to plan next year.”

Peter Begley, a past president of the Nassau County Firefighters Emerald Society, said, in addition to sometimes lacking volunteers to plan the events, parades on Long Island are now competing against those operating at the same time.

Hampton Bays officials said they’ve had no trouble attracting participants, but other parades may be competing with New York City’s St. Patrick's Day parade on March 16.

“Now they are taking away from one another and getting overgrown with St. Patrick’s Day parades and competing against each other,” Begley said.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.