Hotels are over 90% full this weekend, although the parade has been canceled.
St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah, Georgia, is known for tourists, parades and bars. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the city is preparing to receive 30,000 to 50,000 visitors in addition to regional “hikers”, said Susan Broker, director of the city’s special events, cinema and tourism office.
“People are tired of being stuck,” Broker told ABC News.
Hotels are expected to be over 90% full this weekend. Joseph Marinelli, president of Visit Savannah, the city’s tourism office, attributes the crushing of visitors to the fatigue of COVID-19 and more vaccines. A large riverfront hotel in Savannah said on Friday it was “overcrowded”.
Savannah’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade was canceled for the second year due to the pandemic, which Marinelli said was the right choice.
Mayor Van Johnson has “protected the community on each of the holidays,” said Marinelli. “He’s really been very careful to follow the protocols and remind people that large groups together can be super-propagators.”
“The St. Patrick’s Day festival is a major economic driver for our community,” continued Marinelli. “Not having it for two consecutive years takes a toll … The impact of the holiday is tens of millions of dollars.”
“However,” he said, “we support the mayor’s decision.”
Abigail Stevens, who has lived in Savannah for 18 years, loves to participate in the revelry.
“We are well known as a party city on St. Patrick’s Day … drinking, going to bars, dressing,” said Stevens, 39. “We have a great long-standing tradition and an Irish community. I think that’s what makes Savannah really unique.”
With the pandemic underway, Stevens started a new tradition this year, inviting neighbors to decorate their balconies and backyards (an idea she says she borrowed from New Orleans’ “Yardi Gras” Mardi Gras celebration.)
About 40 homeowners are participating, she said. Stevens’ house already has accessories and others too.
Stevens said he is not particularly concerned about a peak in COVID-19 after St. Patrick’s Day.
“It seems that most people are being careful and respectful,” she said.
In preparation for the holiday, the city has tripled its COVID-19 Resource Team, which acts as the “eyes and ears” of enforcement, Marinelli said. This weekend, city officials will head to popular streets and bars to disperse large groups and distribute masks, he said.
Masks are required in public places and groups of 10 or more people in Chatham County, which covers Savannah.
“We are able to enforce our local mandate with tickets,” said Broker, adding that the fire department is registering in restaurants in advance to remind them of social disengagement protocols.
After tourists leave the city, Broker said city officials and the health department will work together to closely monitor cases of COVID-19.
“We are a global community and we have to ensure that, in everything we do, we promote healthy and safe behaviors that minimize any spread of COVID-19,” she said. “So, please, if you are planning to come to Savannah, do so … but remember that you are a person who has the opportunity to affect many.”