The massive, drunken festival that is known as the South Side Irish Parade is no more.
The committee that has put the parade together for 31 years announced Wednesday that they do not plan to have the parade "in its present form" next year.
The South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee said it didn't arrive at the decision lightly -- but they're worried the hundreds of thousands who descend on the Beverly neighborhood have become far too much to handle, and the event has lost its roots as a family-friendly festival celebrating Irish heritage.
Citing a "collection of issues" that come with the enormous crowds, the committee said it plans to revamp the event into a "series of alternate events that will return us to what the parade’s founders had in mind." Some of those issues the committee took into account were certainly the 54 people arrested at this year's parade.
Parade coordinator Jim McKeever said the committee wants to bring the parade back to what it was when it first began.
What do you think? Is the parade more than just a huge public drinking party? Do you think it's a good idea to revamp it to to try to reign it in? Tell us in the comments field below.
