St Patrick’s Day is an important part of the cultural life of Birmingham, when the whole city can join the Irish community to party and celebrate its contribution to life here.

Central to the celebrations is, of course, the famous St Patrick’s Day parade, with marching bands, Irish dancers, banners and floats celebrating the contribution that Irish culture has made to Birmingham.

The parade - one of the biggest in the world outside of Ireland - has not been held since 2019 due to the pandemic.

And this year, once again, it has been cancelled – this time due to the tram work being carried out to extend the tram network along Digbeth High Street.

I know that the Midland Metro Alliance, who are carrying out the tram work, are big supporters of the parade, and did put forward some alternative suggestions for the event to take place. However, while it is disappointing to know that the parade will not happen this year again, organisers undoubtedly made the correct decision, based on safety and logistics.

And it was clearly also a decision made with a real determination to ensure that, parade or not, St Patrick’s Day will be celebrated here in Brum in 2022. To put it simply, the craic is back.

I’m delighted and excited by the planned week-long festival which will start on March 11 and will include live music gigs, concerts and traditional Irish sessions, as well as whiskey and beer tasting.

The St Pat Rock’s stage will be set up at the Zellig and the Custard Factory, on Sunday, March 13, with music from international acts and local bands.

There will be heritage talks, storytelling and special events involving Irish dance and sport. The organisers have said that they want the festival to the celebrate “what it means to be Brummie, and how it feels to be Irish”.

As Mayor of the West Midlands, I regularly see how the region’s Irish community contribute to life here, from business and culture to charity and sport. 

Brum’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations have rightly developed a reputation beyond these shores as one of the best in the world, not least because of the spectacle and colour of the parade.

The parade will be back, of that I have no doubt. But the plans that have been put in place for this year show that the irrepressible nature of our Irish community will ensure that it retains its place as one of the biggest dates on the region’s calendar.

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