Denver St. Patrick’s Day parade marches on (PHOTOS)

DENVER — Denver’s St. Patrick’s Day parade marched into its 51st season Saturday morning, marking the official beginning of a weekend full of verdant shenanigans in LoDo.

Thousands of spectators turned out to watch hundreds of floats, riders and marchers along Blake Street starting at 10 a.m. While the neighborhood’s Irish bars were doing a brisk business, the parade was also a family affair, with at least as many young children as twenty-something partiers in the mix.

The parade wrapped up by late afternoon, but downtown will remain firmly under Irish control though Sunday night. Numerous events abound, most notably a huge St. Paddy’s festival near Fado Irish Pub, 1735 19^th Street.