To some residents of America's most Irish city, the annual Boston St Patrick's Day parade has become too much of a drinking session in recent years. To counter that trend, some state and city officials in the city are calling for bars to close for this year's outing.

The hope is that the parade can once again become the family event it used to be.

John "Wacko" Hurley, the organiser of the parade, supports calls for an alcohol-free day. "St Patrick's Day should be a day out for all the family," he says. "I hope that the bars decide to shut down for it [the parade\]."

This year's parade, which will be held next Sunday, happens as sales of alcohol from off-licences are being permitted on Sundays for the first time, in the traditionally puritan state of Massachusetts. This has added to some concerns that the day might deteriorate into a drinking festival. However, Boston police say there will be "zero tolerance" for public drinking and drunkenness.

The chairman of the bar licensing board in Boston, Daniel F. Pokaski, has added his voice to calls for bars to close before, during and after the parade. He has held a meeting with bar owners in South Boston to put the case for closing. So far, three local bars have agreed to close for a few hours. The move is voluntary.

Hurley says this year's parade, which occurs in the overwhelmingly Irish neighbourhood of South Boston, is the 104th St Patrick's Day parade in the city. It's an important annual event in the Boston calendar and celebrations of the day in the city date back to March 17th, 1724, when the Irish Charitable Society of Boston was founded.

Hurley says about 600,000 people are expected to turn out to view the parade, which will consist of 17 bagpipe bands, five bands and 60 to 70 units coming to Boston from throughout the US and Canada.