SYRACUSE, NY -- South Salina Street is already decked out with the “Nancy Duffy Lane” sign and the green stripe will be painted on Friday.

And there are no plans to cancel or postpone the annual Syracuse St. Patrick’s Parade scheduled for this Saturday (March 14).

“The parade will go on,” parade committee president Janet Higgins said. “Unless I’m directed to by county or state authorities, we will not cancel.”

Higgins admitted her phone “was blowing up” after news broke Monday that Boston, one of America’s most Irish cities, had decided to cancel its St. Patrick’s celebration in South Boston due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus. The Boston mayor cited “an abundance of caution” in making that call.

But Higgins said she has heard nothing from local authorities about the possibility of cancelling the event that draws thousands of festive revellers to downtown Syracuse each year.

At a press briefing on the coronavirus Monday, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said there have been no recommendations from county health officials to cancel local events that draw big crowds. He cited the fact that there have been no confirmed cased in Onondaga County to date.

Higgins said the parade committee is recommending that people “use their own best judgment” about whether to attend the parade, which starts at noon Saturday.

“Certainly, if people think their immune systems are compromised, then perhaps they’ll want to stay home and watch it on Channel 9 or on streaming,” she said.

The weather forecast for Saturday in Syracuse currently calls for mostly cloudy skies and a high of 42 degrees.

The big annual St. Patrick’s Parade will also go on as scheduled in Utica, according to a report at WKTV (Channel 2). It starts at 10 a.m. Saturday.

“We’ve kept our eye on it," David Wood, co-director of the Utica St. Patrick’s Day parade, told the station. "We’ve talked about it amongst all the different volunteers who put this on. At this point, we haven’t been too concerned.”

Syracuse.com / Post-Standard staff writer James T. Mulder contributed to this report.

Upcoming Syracuse St. Patrick’s events

-- Painting of the Green Stripe on the Salina Street parade route, 9:30 am. March 13.

-- Grand Marshal Gala, 6 p.m. March 13 at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, with cocktails, food stations and entertainment.

-- Parade Day: March 14. Mass at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, downtown Syracuse, 10 a.m.; 38th annual Syracuse St. Patrick’s Parade, noon, downtown Syracuse. The parade steps off at Clinton Square and heads south along Salina Street. After the parade, the Marriott Syracuse Downtown will host a party featuring Irish music and dance. NewsChannel 9 WSYR will provide live coverage of the parade from noon until 3 pm.

-- Painting of the Shamrock: Midnight March 16. Ceremony marking the start of St. Patrick’s Day under the green-over-red traffic light at the corner of Milton and Tompkins streets on Tipperary Hill.

-- St. Patrick’s Day: March 17 (all day)

Related:

Syracuse St. Patrick’s Parade marshals won’t march alone

St. Patrick’s Parade team kicks off annual Hunger Project

Story tellers named grand marshals of Syracuse St. Patrick’s Parade

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.

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