On this day 183 years ago, Cleveland celebrated its first St. Patrick's Day parade.
While much has changed in the city, the spirit that started and sustains the annual tradition remains the same.
"I like to see all the people dressed up, being festive, having fun," said one paradegoer Monday.
St. Patrick's Day is a time to celebrate Cleveland's rich Irish heritage. It is also a day when everyone bleeds green, and hearts beat to the same drum and bagpipe hum marching up Superior Avenue.
"My daughter is in the parade," said Sasha Robertson.
Her daughter, 14, plays the trumpet at Maple Heights.
Robertson said she was also excited to get some classic Cleveland corned beef.
Cleveland's St. Patrick's Day parade is among the biggest in the country. It has it all, and like most things in Cleveland, it's the people who make it great.
There were so many people dressed up in green outfits from head to toe, even to their fingertips!
"Green manicure," laughed one woman from her street-side seat.
People in big, fun glasses and lots of little kids in their St. Paddy's best.
"This morning, I woke up, and I found these glasses in my room," said Finn about his rainbow-with-a-pot-of-gold glasses on his face. "They're from the leprechaun!"
Finn was there with his parents and siblings and said he was most excited to see the floats!
Everyone at the parade was also excited to see the sun on Monday, a day that was chillier than usual.
"Doesn't matter what the weather is, though, because we'd come no matter what," said Lamar Shepherd with his family.
The parade is a family tradition for many packing the parade route.
Like Pat Byrne, packing a city block with dozens of family members from different generations.
He said he'd been coming to the parade for decades - since he was about as big as the grandbaby he was now holding in his arms.
"It means a lot because we're Irish," he smiled.
While it is a day of celebration, it is also a time to pause and remember service and sacrifice.
Before the parade, Cleveland has another St. Patrick's Day tradition: the annual memorial to fallen firefighters.
There have been 80 fallen brothers since 1869. The most recent was Johnny Tetrick in 2022, added just last year.
Monday, a new name was memorialized.
Cadet Timothy Graham, the only Cleveland fire cadet ever lost, died in the line of duty from injuries sustained during training with pompier ladders in 1888. His son grew up to serve Cleveland Fire, too.
"We honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice by never forgetting the lessons they taught and the love they left behind," said Jake Konys, president of the Association of Cleveland Firefighters. "No greater love than to lay down one's life for one's fellow man."
Back on Superior, service and sacrifice are on display, as well.
And in the spirit of the day, a popular Irish blessing: Wherever you go and whatever you do, may the luck of the Irish be there with you. An unspoken theme, perhaps, of a beloved tradition marching on for generations of Clevelanders.
"And they'll be coming here for the next 100 years if they can," smiled Byrne about his family attending the Cleveland St. Patrick's Day parade.
The parade starts at Superior Avenue and East 18th Street and travels west on Superior towards Public Square. It will remain on that route next year, but discussions are ongoing about what the upcoming Cleveland Midway Project may mean for its future route.
That project is set to run down Superior Avenue with a bike path and make the area safer for drivers and pedestrians.
