Drinking... throwing beads... partying in the streets? It's the St. Patrick's Day parade in Rochester...but not anymore. Parade officials plan to crack down next year.
"Oh, that's not right," Mitchell Silver said. "No, a parade should be... a lively, fun event, and throw beads, and pass out candy."
"I think everybody would agree, it's St. Patrick's Day," Mark Loj said. "What else are you going to do?"
But officials want the partying in the parade under control. They've already sent out rules for next year's participants.
Number one: "There will be no interactions between the marching units and parade crowd such as throwing candy/items of any kind, handing out beads/pamphlets, selling items, passing balls back and forth."
Not everyone agrees with that.
"You get the audience, you get the participants in the parade going," Lauren Calabresi said. "It's a win-win situation because you get a lot of interaction and it gets everyone in a happy, jovial mood."
Officials state in the letter that this rule is for safety reasons. They don't want people-- especially kids-- running out in the path of the parade when there are so many vehicles and floats involved.
The letter also states that it slows down the parade when people run out to grab items.
Another rule: "We must respect both the audience and the reputations of all involved in this parade...per the rules and regulations signed by parade participants, public consumption of alcohol is not allowed."
Mitchell Silver gives that a thumbs up.
"I don't know about drinking in the parade or walking around with beers... I don't think so," he said. "I think that should be controlled and in bars."
Over the past couple of years, there have been fights. Parade officials also suspended some participants for their behavior.
So is cracking down a good idea? Some business owners along the parade route say yes.
"I think that anything that grows the St. Patrick's Day parade...we're very much in favor of," Joe Vetere of Matthew's East End Grill said. '"I mean, make it more of a family event...it can't hurt."
News 10 NBC called organizers of the parade right after we received a copy of the rules they sent out, but they weren't available to speak with us on Thursday night.
In that letter to participants, officials also said they're considering limiting the number of vehicles allowed in the parade next year. That's because this year's was the longest ever at 3 hours and 15 minutes.
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