The 2026 Downtown Billings St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, presented by Downtown Billings and Hooligan’s Sports Bar, takes place on Saturday, March 15th on the downtown streets below Skypoint. We invite the community to join us downtown between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm to enjoy a day full of fun. The celebration features Billings 43rd St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Celtic Fair, and the Street Party.
We will open the Celtic Fair at 10:00 am with some craft vendors, face painting, festive green swag, balloon art, food trucks, and more. The parade and Street Party both kick off at 11:00 am. This year’s parade includes over forty-five entries. Each entry is festively crafted for the event by individual local businesses, organizations, and community groups.
Judging the parade floats from Skypoint this year will be: City Council Members Bill Kennedy and Tony O’Donnell and Dana Ludden with Signature Sponsor Intrepid Credit Union.
2025 Parade Winners
- Best Overall Entry – Carters Brewery
- Best Musical Entry –Caledonian Pipes & Drummers
- Best St. Patrick’s Day Theme – St. Patrick’s Co-Cathedral
- Float Construction – Big Sky Balloon Rally
- Best Costumes – Magic City Witch Dancers
- Best performers – Magic City Majorettes
- Most Original Entry – Sons of Norway
- DBA Favorite – Frickle’s Lawn & Landscape
The festivities ramp up at the Celtic Fair and Street Party upon the conclusion of the 11:00 am parade. The Street Party on N. Broadway will come alive at noon when local cover band, Repeat Offenders take the stage. Celtic musicians from the Sláinte Traditional Irish Music Session will play inside the atrium of the Yesteryears Antique Mall (208 N. Broadway) from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.
We invite attendees to the streets below Skypoint from 1:00pm to 3:00pm to enjoy various free all ages activities:
- MINI GOLF sponsored by Seed of Life Labs
- SOCCER SNOOKER sponsored by Intrepid Credit Union
- Additional fun provided by Celebrate for Life, Montana Women’s Run, and Special Olympics of Montana.
Public Safety remains priority Number One
This free community event is coordinated by us through the Downtown Billings’ Business Improvement District (BID). Public safety is the number one priority for the BID and a top priority of our organization as a whole, we would like the community to remember the following:
- DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH THE ROAD BARRICADES Type III road closure barricades are placed across streets to stop vehicle traffic from entering. The placement of the barricades are to keep all staff, volunteers, participants, and attendees safe throughout the event.
- PARADE “NO HANDOUT” POLICY: Parade entries are not permitted to pass out candy or any sort of handout from the parade route. Read the full Parade Safety message HERE for details and clarification of this policy.
The safety issues addressed in this policy include, but are not limited to:- A concerning narrowing of the parade route as a result of spectators of all ages entering the road during the parade, often pushing inward in excitement of items being handed or tossed from the floats/parade participants.
- Spectators crossing the parade route, during large gaps in the parade created by floats slowing their pace to keep up with their walkers who are distributing items to the crowd.
- An increase in litter left in the parade’s wake became a growing issue for Downtown Billings businesses. An issue that increased pressure on already limited resources.