Who truly has the shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade in WNY?

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) — They both claim to be the shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade around, but which one truly holds the title?

In the battle between Niagara Falls and Lackawanna, only one can truly host the shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the region.

Both are happening Friday, with Lackawanna’s moving from Our Lady of Victory Basilica (OLV) on Ridge Road to City Hall, just down the street.

But “just down the street” can also describe the parade to kick off what’s being called Western New York’s largest St. Patrick’s Day party in Niagara Falls. That parade begins at the intersection of Old Falls Street and Rainbow Boulevard, and concludes at the Niagara Falls Convention Center.

Both appear to cross one street, and neither seems to be too daunting of a task to take on. Let’s measure the distance:

Niagara Falls

“World’s Shortest Parade”: 0.1 miles (a three-minute walk, according to Google Maps)

2022 | Niagara Falls celebrates with Short St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Lackawanna

“Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade”: Roughly 400 feet (a two-minute walk, according to Google Maps)

And if you really want to get down to the nitty-gritty, a couple of News 4 reports from March 2022 list the following lengths for each parade:

– Niagara Falls: 351 steps
– Lackawanna: 98 steps

There you have it. By less than a tenth of a mile, Lackawanna’s parade takes the cake.

Learn more about Lackawanna’s celebration, which started with a mass at OLV Basilica on Friday afternoon, in the video below: