NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— This will be a big weekend for collecting cabbages at the St. Patrick’s Day parades like the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Parade tomorrow.
With cabbage prices on the rise, many are wondering how this could affect the parades?
Billy Arnold’s been riding in the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Parade since the late-1980’s with his brothers and his dad, Tom as part of the Algiers Friendship Club.
With cabbage costs going up this year, Billy still isn’t feeling unlucky.
“Everything is more expensive this year, fuel, these cabbages came from Texas. We had an 18-wheeler drop them off for us,” he said.
Billy went on to say, “We are going to get the cabbages regardless of the prices. We work with our cabbage supplier to make sure we get them.”
Since the last time he ordered them in 2020, cabbages have increased about $4 per sack. Despite the cost he knows these cabbages are “good as gold.”
“People on the routes are looking for cabbage. They are out there with their crawfish pots asking us to put them in there for them, so they can go back home and make corned beef and cabbage,” he said.
They don’t actually throw the cabbages, but hand them to people.
“It is going to be a prized possession. We compare our cabbage to the Zulu coconut,” he said.
Billy and his brothers know it wouldn’t feel like St. Patrick’s Day without these “lucky charms,” so they are ready to “shamrock and roll.”
“People are very excited. Just based on what we saw for Mardi Gras, the folks are ready for this,” he said.
For the riders, this year each cabbage sack will cost about $22, and in past years it could cost the rider between $18 and $20 a sack.
We called local grocery stores and they say cabbage prices are up, but not aggressively. They say if you want to save, buy onions and potatoes because they are cheaper.
For more information on The Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club and their parade, click HERE.
The parade begins at 1 p.m. tomorrow. The parade begins at Race and Magazine Streets and ends on Jackson Avenue and Constance Street.
