City's St Patrick's Day Parade: What you need to know

Birmingham’s St Patrick’s Day Parade is coming back to the city on Sunday after a five year break.

Organisers The Birmingham Irish Association said the free community event would be "a celebration like no other”.

It has not taken place since 2019 with the 2020 event having been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and then roadworks in Digbeth in subsequent years.

This year’s event, in Digbeth, will be the 50th parade to take place in the city.

The Birmingham event, which dates back to 1952, has been known to attract up to 80,000 people in the past.

This year’s parade takes place on St Patrick’s Day itself, 17 March - this Sunday.

The Irish Association previously said it would have "Irish myths and legends" as its theme.

The parade will begin at 12:00 GMT and is expected to last until about 14:00 GMT.

The parade will start from the top of Bradford Street (near Camp Hill) in Digbeth at 12:00 GMT.

It will continue past St Anne's in the heart of the Irish Quarter before finishing at the junction of Rea Street at about 14:00 GMT.

Organiser said updates on the parade will be on their dedicated website here.

A mass is set to take place at St Anne's Catholic Church on Alcester Street at 10:00 GMT with the service expected to last about an hour.

Kicking off with a confetti blast at midday, the parade will feature Irish and Caribbean dancers and Welsh and Chinese dragons, the St Patrick’s Parade Birmingham website added.

• What is St Patrick's Day?

Among those due to take part are the West Midlands Fire Service Pipe Band, the Birmingham Irish Heritage Group and the West Midlands Peaky Blinder Group, as well as local schools.

The parade will halt at 12:45 GMT for a special tribute in memory of Shane MacGowan, frontman of The Pogues, who died on 30 November.

The tribute will be led by Birmingham Irish Pipes & Drums and those taking part will sing Dirty Old Town, organisers said.

Previous parades have seen lots of floats covered in symbols of Irish culture, plenty of music from marching bands - and a lot of green being worn!

People travelling in the area are advised to allow extra time for journeys.

A number of bus services would be diverted on Sunday, Transport for West Midlands said.

National Express West Midlands bus services 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5, 6 and 50 will be subject to diversions from the start of service until the routes have reopened.

Buses are also replacing trains between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton due to repairs because of a landslip.

There will also be a partial suspension of the Metro because of planned engineering works, with no service between Edgbaston Village and Black Lake.

A service will operate between Wolverhampton and Black Lake only.

Due to security measures, there will be no parking available at or close to St Anne's Catholic Church on Sunday, a spokesperson for the organisers says.

A car park is available from 09:00 GMT onwards at Charles Henry Street on a first-come first-served basis.

Road closures would be in place across the whole route as well as side roads from early in the morning, TfWM said.

"Roads are likely to be reopened late afternoon with normal traffic operations returning shortly after," a spokesperson added.

"It is important to note that there is the possibility of road closures being extended for longer than planned due to event delays and those travelling in the area are advised to allow extra time for journeys."

National Express West Midlands said Bradford Street would be closed between Camp Hill and Moat Lane between 07:30 GMT to 17:00 GMT on Sunday.

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