The annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in St. Paul, one of the city’s most popular events, has been canceled due to crowd and coronavirus concerns.

The St. Patrick’s Association has been sponsoring the parade since 1967. The annual event was scheduled to begin at noon Tuesday and travel down Fifth Street from Mears Park to Rice Park. In a statement on its website, the association said the decision was made after meeting with officials “representing Ramsey County Department of Health, Minnesota Department of Health, the St. Paul Mayor’s Office and other local business owners and event planners.”

“We take the health and safety of our members, volunteers, participants, spectators, and community very seriously,” the St. Patrick’s Association statement said. “This would have been our 54th year celebrating, and we did not make this decision lightly.”

The decision follows similar moves in New York City, Chicago, Boston, and even the Irish capital of Dublin, all of which have cancelled traditional St. Patrick’s Day parades.

And Minneapolis. Across the river, organizers from the Minneapolis St. Patrick’s Day Association have decided to cancel the 52nd Annual Minneapolis St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The event was scheduled to take place on Tuesday beginning at 6:30 p.m. down Nicollet Mall downtown.

Other St. Paul St. Pat’s festivities were due to start this weekend — but have been canceled. The West Seventh street party known as LuckyPalooza on Saturday and a two-day party called Keg O’ Case at the Keg and Case West 7th Market on Saturday and Sunday will not happen. Tickets for Keg O’ Case purchased online through Eventbrite will be automatically refunded. The market remains open for normal business hours.

RELATED: Coronavirus: List of event and school cancellations in Twin Cities

“We love this community and this is a very hard decision to make as a community gathering space,” Keg and Case director of marketing Gates Lindquist said in a release. “We look forward to future celebrations.”

Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul had Irish celebrations planned for Sunday and Tuesday, but both of those have been canceled. Day of Irish Dance was set for Sunday and St. Patrick’s Celebration was planned for Tuesday. “This would have been our 39th year of celebrating Irish culture and heritage, and the decision was not made lightly,” the Irish Music and Dance Association said in a news release on Thursday.

The association said it would honor all performer fees for the event. “We strongly believe in supporting our artists, and with some many performances being cancelled, we recognize the financial implications of COVID-19 on the broader community,” the dance and music association said in a release.

This report contains information from the Associated Press.