“If it gets any colder I’ll be the blue Smurf,” Victoria Smurfit said before her turn as grand marshal of the St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin.
The green-clad actor had taken precautions, including a heat pack and an elaborately knotted green scarf tucked into a tweed jacket that might have come directly from the set of Rivals, the Disney+ Jilly Cooper series that has recently seen Smurfit’s star shine brightly.
The actor said that when the email inviting her to lead the parade landed she had assumed at first it was a scam as the offer seemed so unlikely.
“I’m just so honoured,” she said. “It is not something in my wildest dreams I could have imagined being asked to do.”
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People from all over the world gathered on the capital’s streets from early, and they were loving it, none more so than Joshua and Deborah Jenkins from Missouri, US. The couple were in Ireland to mark their 25th wedding anniversary and planned the trip with the parade at the heart of it.
“It’s just so beautiful here,” Ms Jenkins said, oblivious to the seagull horsing into a discarded bag of ketchup-coated chips nearby.
“We’ve travelled all over and everyone is so nice. But it’s the parade we planned our vacation around. It’s a bucket list thing for us.”
Emmanuel Ngaba grew up in Cameroon, but his daughter is growing up in Dublin. He was out early to get the best possible view of her as she took part in the parade.
“I dropped her off so it was an opportunity to get a good place to capture some video as she passes,” he said.
Karin Johansson from Sweden is studying to become an English teacher and is in Maynooth, Co Kildare, as part of her programme.
“I know it’s a big party, but I don’t know anything more than that,” she said.
After watching the parade, she planned to head off so she could “miss all the rowdiness” in Dublin.
“I don’t drink and I don’t fancy being around people when they are too drunk,” she said.
However, Laura Arnat, from Spain, was quite looking forward to a night out in the city centre.
“We’ll go to Temple Bar for some drinks and maybe listen to some music. For me, the best thing about Ireland is the music. I love it,” she said.
St Patrick’s Festival chief executive Richard Tierney cut a relaxed figure as the parade started.
“Today is a true reflection of the joy, diversity and creativity that make St Patrick’s Festival such a special celebration for all, and I’m proud to be a part of it,” he said.
Shortly after midday President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina arrived for his last parade as head of state.
For this year’s theme, Adventures (Eachtraí), more than 4,000 street performers, floats and marching bands passed more than 300,000 people who piled into the city.
Spraoi caused confusion when they called for cheers for Queen Elizabeth. Not wanting to be rude there were some halfhearted whoops, but these were drowned out by the roars for Grace O’Malley who was following her. It wasn’t England’s day after all.
The Outing Queer Arts Collective’s “Rainbow Pageant – Love is an Adventure”, celebrating 10 years of marriage equality in the State, probably broke a million protocols when encouraging President Higgins to dance the Macarena. It was all in good spirits and ended with high fives all round.
Macnas marked its Dublin return with Alf the Giant Newt and a visual piece about climate change, while ArtFX brought “Fierce Mild”, a tribute to Ireland’s unpredictable spring weather.
It resonated with spectators delighted by the spectacle and the absence of the rain, but chilled to the bone by winds from the east.
