Dallas’ St. Patrick’s Parade & Festival that had been planned on Saturday has been canceled to avoid the further spread of coronavirus, city officials announced Wednesday.

The yearly parade on Greenville Avenue in East Dallas was expected to draw more than 125,000 people, according to the organizers, and one resident began a petition on Change.org for the city to cancel the event. About 370 people had signed the online petition as of Wednesday afternoon.

Mayor Eric Johnson said canceling the event was the responsible decision, made after speaking with public health experts and county and state officials. City officials revoked special event permits for the parade and Lower Greenville Avenue block party.

“Any decisions about any gatherings will have major economic implications for our city, and that was not lost on us,” Johnson said in a news conference Wednesday evening. “Ultimately the decision not to go forward with the parade was made by our city staff in consultation with my office. This is not a time to panic. This is a time to take precautions.”

The parade, which would have been going on its 41st consecutive year, occupies 2 miles of Greenville Avenue from Blackwell Street to SMU Boulevard and 75 Central Expressway. The nonprofit Greenville Avenue Area Business Association organizes the parade, which had more than 90 float entries this year.

Kevin Vela, board chairman of the association, said organizers are disappointed but will prioritize public health.

Profits from the parade were also used to provide DISD seniors with scholarships. Vela said the business association still plans to raise $41,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to continue the tradition. Contributors to the scholarships can also donate by texting STPAT to phone number 22525. The association offers between $10,000 to $30,000 every year to select graduating seniors at Conrad, Wilson and North Dallas high schools, Vela said in a statement Wednesday.





Other cancellations

Dallas follows other major cities that have already canceled or postponed their St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, such as Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Cleveland.

Johnson said his office considered those cities’ decisions, including Austin’s cancellation of the SXSW festival.

The announcement came after Dallas officials said a 77-year-old man from out of state and a local person in close contact with him were the first two “presumptive positive” cases of coronavirus; an Irving resident is also currently being treated in a Dallas-area hospital. A Tarrant County man who heads a Fort Worth church and a family of three in Frisco also have tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, public health officials are investigating what could be the first sign of community spread of the new coronavirus in Texas, the state announced Wednesday.

A Montgomery County man in his 40s tested positive for COVID-19 this week, but officials do not know how since he had not recently traveled or come into contact with another infected person.

Community spread — when a person contracts the virus from an unknown source — would be a turning point for the state. The more than 20 other cases reported in Texas to date are linked to out-of-state travel.

“From the very start, the state of Texas has anticipated the possibility of community spread of COVID-19, and the proactive strategies we have in place were developed with this very scenario in mind,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a prepared statement.

Cities in Montgomery County, immediately north of Harris County, include Conroe and The Woodlands.

Precautions not possible

Chris Kelley, a spokesman for the parade’s sponsors, said he had been talking with the city after news of the confirmed Dallas cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a list of recommendations to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, including guidance on mass gatherings.

The city’s Office of Special Events can choose whether to approve permits for large-scale gatherings. In a statement from the city, Johnson said officials spoke to health care and public health leaders and met with Gov. Greg Abbott, and that additional mass gatherings “will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.”

Rocky Vaz, the city’s director of emergency management, said in an interview Monday that officials would take direction from the county — which is Dallas’ public health authority — to make recommendations on mass gatherings and decide whether to shut down public buildings.

Assistant City Manager Joey Zapata said the city couldn’t take the proper precautions that the CDC recommends, such as offering hand-washing stations and sanitizer. Zapata said the risk was greater because it was an outdoor event where people couldn’t easily access bathrooms.

The city hasn’t decided how large an event would have to be to get canceled, but the city has more than 120 events planned through August.

Assistant City Manager Joey Zapata (right) and Mayor Eric Johnson address the cancellation of the St. Patrick's Parade and block party -- related to precautionary measures in light of COVID-19 cases in Dallas County this week -- during a press conference at Dallas City Hall in Dallas on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. (Lynda M. Gonzalez / Staff Photographer)

Cory Wauson, area director of Ozona’s Grill & Bar near the parade route, said the cancellation was a shock. Wauson, who has worked at the bar for 14 years, spent the day on Wednesday poring over budget and staffing spreadsheets, trying to cancel things he paid for in advance in preparation for the weekend, like portable toilets and extra security.

He said that most companies were understanding about the change of plans and that Ozona is going forward with the live music it had booked. The bar is having its own party “no matter what,” he said.

“We have no idea (what to expect)," Wauson said. “We don’t know, we might even be busier because they don’t have the parade to go to. Or are people so scared they don’t come out?”

He said that people on Facebook had been asking all day about whether the bar would still have an event and that, “Whatever we do, we’re just going to try and have fun.”

Shannon McKinnon, owner of the Green Elephant bar, called the cancellation an overreaction.

The parade is a big weekend event for his bar, and while he said the cancellation would have minimal impact on his business, he feels like the city should have let people decide for themselves if they wanted to go.

“If you are somebody (like me), I’m over 50, so I’m kind of in the danger zone of age groups ... just don’t go to the parade," he said. “Stay home.”

He said he’s still deciding whether to scale back the planned events in the bar on Saturday.

“Thousands of people a week come through here, and we’re not shutting it down,” McKinnon said. “If people decide they don’t want to come for whatever reason, I completely understand.”

Anna Bottinelli Edsel, an Italian immigrant who lives in Greenland Hills, was one of hundreds of residents who said she urged the city to cancel the St. Patrick’s Day parade. A close family friend in her 60s who is in Italy is currently in the ICU with the novel coronavirus, she said.

Bottinelli Edsel, 32, said that while the city made the right call to cancel the parade, she believes officials haven’t done enough to discourage the public from celebrations that would draw a crowd. She said she didn’t take the virus seriously enough until it started to impact her personally. She believes healthy residents, who could unknowingly be carriers, should also do everything they can to protect high-risk individuals.

“When things get bad, they get bad very quickly,” Bottinelli Edsel said. “We are given a chance now to act in this country before it becomes too late.”

In 1918, the Spanish flu that killed thousands of soldiers in the U.S. also spread rapidly after a parade to sell bonds for World War I drew thousands of Dallas residents. A total of 76 cases were reported then, and a 15-year-old boy who had been infected died, The News reported in 1918.





Staff Writer Allie Morris contributed to this report.

Updated 4:54 p.m. on March 11, 2020, to include more statements from GAABA and Bottinelli Edsel.

Updated 6:55 p.m. on March 11, 2020, after a Dallas City Hall news conference.