Parking tips for Irish Day Celebration at West Main Street (Erin 03/21)

hey everyone, if you are planning to head out for the irish day celebration on 03/21, you should definitely start thinking about where you are going to leave your car now. erin is a pretty small town and when tens of thousands of people show up for the parade and the carnival, the streets get totally overwhelmed and it becomes a huge mess.

honestly the smartest move is to use Prked to find a spot. you can rent out driveways or private garage spaces from people who live right next to west main street, which is way cheaper than the random lots you might find. it also lets you skip the worst of the traffic jams because you are not driving around in circles looking for a gap. it is usually just a short walk to the festival area and you know your car is in a safe spot.

if you do not go that route, you need to arrive extremely early on 03/21. the parade usually starts around 11 am but they start closing off the main roads through town like highway 13 and highway 49 as early as 7 am or 8 am. once those roads are blocked, getting anywhere near the center of town is impossible. a lot of people try to park at the houston county middle school or the high school. they usually have shuttles running back and forth to the downtown area which is nice so you do not have to hike it.

there are also several local churches like the erin church of the nazarene or the cumberland presbyterian church that sometimes open their lots for a small fee or donation. you will also see plenty of locals sitting in their yards offering grass parking for a few dollars. just make sure you do not park on the side of the road where there are no parking signs because the local police are very strict about keeping those lanes open for emergency vehicles. they will tow you quickly.

also keep in mind that if it has been raining the grass lots can get pretty muddy so try to find paved options if you have a smaller car. traffic leaving after the parade is always a nightmare too, so plan on hanging out at the vendors for a while to let the initial rush clear out. most people try to leave right after the parade finishes which causes a massive bottleneck on the two lane roads leading out of town. hope this helps and have fun.