It’s time. Binghamton is ready. You’re ready. The Rat is ready. It’s our greatest school holiday, families on State Street, a lot of alcohol and a lot of green. With the exception of Bar Crawl, St. Patrick’s Parade Day is the only day in Binghamton that makes it socially acceptable to wake up at 8 in the morning and just start drinking. It’s the day where everyone gets to be Irish — or at least pretend to be.

But there’s more to it than just inebriation. Parade Day has some historical significance to the Binghamton area. This is the 47th annual St. Patrick’s Parade Day, and it’s occurring nearly three weeks before St. Patrick’s Day. So what’s the rush? The Binghamton community has requested that some of the bands playing in the New York City parade later this month perform for the town, and wanted to ensure that there were no scheduling conflicts. Therefore, we should expect to have our stereotypes about this cultural event heavily fulfilled with some fancy Irish bagpipes and a bunch of guys marching in kilts down State Street.

Parade Day is a day of unity that brings people together and makes Binghamton University stand out from other colleges. At least that’s the case for Neil Khoury, a sophomore majoring in neuroscience.

“At a university that many would agree lacks school spirit, Parade Day acts as a day of unification,” Khoury said. “Parade Day gives students the opportunity to spend an entire day making memories with their closest friends, classmates and alumni.”

Other students feel that Parade Day is a great way to portray Binghamton as an exciting place to be, despite its reputation in its poverty-stricken areas.

“With all the negative publicity that the city has received in recent years, it is great to have something that brings the people of Binghamton together,” said Casey Gilbert, a senior majoring in biology.

Parade Day is not only a day of unification, but also provides a great economic boost for the town. Hotels Downtown, such as the Holiday Inn on Hawley Street, are almost fully booked for the weekend, and restaurants have been quickly filling up their reservation spots for hungry Parade Day customers. For those people 21 and older, the bars on State Street will be offering special all-day deals on drinks and food as well.

“Similar to Bar Crawl, Parade Day is something that provides Binghamton with a sense of business revival,” said Vlad Roytman, a junior majoring in chemistry. “Binghamton usually looks like a ghost town during the day, and the parade gives the town a sense of life.”

This year, the parade starts Downtown at 1:30 p.m., and will follow its usual same route on Court Street down to the intersection between Main and Arthur. The organizers of the parade, Ancient Order of Hibernians, has reported that the parade is guaranteed to be quicker than last year’s due to improved organization of the events. Unfortunately, the parade will also be much smaller than last year’s due to the ban of large floats and trucks riding on the new roundabout. Regardless, this year’s Parade Day is guaranteed to be a great time. For those of you ready to indulge in this crazy Irish experience, be responsible, be safe and, of course, try and have some fun.