Bui Bolg float pictured at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Wexford. Pic: John Walsh

THE STORY has long been told of how St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, but quayside in Wexford town last Friday morning the situation was somewhat reversed.

A whopping one hundred jovial figures bedecked in green hurried along in haste, as a giant inflatable and imposing red-and-white striped snake made a bid to rid them instead.

The talented street theatre performers and breathtaking inflatables of renowned local group Buí Bolg were among a massive number of participants in Wexford town’s centenary St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Indeed, some of the scouts, guides and sporting groups numbered in the region of 200 people, such is the appetite among members of the local community for joining in the celebration of the national day.

There was music, courtesy of groups ranging from the stately Northfield Caledonia Pipe Band to the colourful Bloco Garman.

There was performance, with the Wexford School of Ballet and Performing Arts and Wexford Light Opera Society offering two of the finest examples of the wealth of creative talent that Wexford has to offer.

There was a fine representation from Wexford’s sporting community, with the town’s Faythe Harriers and Wexford Albion among just two of the many groups to march on the day.

Even the rain knew not to fall on this parade.

Just about all the ingredients needed to make a special day for all the family were brought together and savoured, with generations lining the town from The Faythe as far as Redmond Square to witness the spectacle.

Read more in the Wexford Echo.