In a state where Mardi Gras is the festive focal point, Baton Rouge’s St. Patrick’s Day parade stands out. Since 1986, the Wearin’ of the Green has provided a uniquely Louisiana twist on the annual worldwide celebration of Irish culture.
So how did Baton Rouge — a city not particularly known for its Irish heritage — end up with a St. Patrick’s Day parade as one of its annual highlights? Put it down to the Shingletons.
The Shingletons are one of the city’s most visible families. Pat, an all-around media personality, was the weather forecaster on TV channel WBRZ for 45 years, while son Michael is an anchor at the channel. Both help run the Wearin’ of the Green, along with daughter Katie and family matriarch Mabyn.
The idea first emerged when Pat and Mabyn learned they were the new part owners of Baton Rouge bar Zee Zee Gardens, along with two friends and Pat’s brother Kevin, while visiting Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In fact, Pat received the confirmation call while watching the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade line up on the Boulevard of the Allies — a connection between the new bar and the celebratory day was instantly established.
Every year, thousands of people turn out for Baton Rouge’s Wearin’ of the Green.
From the start, he said, he knew what he was after.
“I wanted to duplicate an Irish pub, and I said ‘I want to do this St. Patrick’s Day parade,” he said. “I merely wanted to have, basically, a walking parade, not a lot of beads and floats and all that stuff.”
The first iteration of the parade, in 1986, was indeed a walking one, starting at City Park Golf Course and ending up at Zee Zee Gardens. By the sound of it, it was a rather merry affair.
“We’d have an Irish breakfast at Zee Zee Gardens on a Saturday morning,” Pat remembered, “We would go up to the City Park Golf Course, then walk back down to Zee Zee’s and just fall into the pints for the rest of the day.”
Pat Shingleton, one of the founders of Baton Rouge’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, Wearin’ of the Green, gets the parade ready to roll in 2007.
It didn’t take long for the Wearin’ of the Green to pick up a head of steam, especially after a parade permit was sorted out. In 1991, five years after it began, it shifted to its current starting spot on Hundred Oaks Avenue at South Acadian Thruway and has since grown exponentially. It’s now one of the city’s most popular parades, arguably on a par with the Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade, and has hosted everything from the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile to the Southern University Marching Band to, last year, Nelly.
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