Downtown St. Cloud Returns to life with “Paint the Cloud Green”

A revitalized St. Cloud downtown celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with its “Paint the Cloud Green” celebration Saturday, showcasing downtown’s return to life after a long period of renovation and street reconstruction.

The evening’s Light Parade featured over 30 units marching down the new bricks that now pave Pennsylvania Avenue. Over on New York Avenue, food trucks lined the street, adding to its fine selection of restaurants located there. Celtic band Seven Nations, including bagpipes and fiddle along with electric guitars and drums, rocked the crowd through the evening.

“Now that we have Pennsylvania Avenue back open and just seeing this excitement down in the city’s downtown again is really cool,” said Shawnta Price, special events manager for the City of St. Cloud. “I think people love coming down here, and so seeing all the people enjoying what they’re doing – the food trucks, the band that’ll be playing tonight, and they’ll be seeing an awesome parade - we’re really excited.”

Cassie, a server at the bustling 10th Street Produce and Deli, summed it up best: “The staff is happy to be back and the town open again.”

Story and photos by David Chivers