Several local St. Patrick’s Day parades have been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, including parades in South Boston, Worcester, Holyoke and on Scituate St. and Newport St., according to a March 12 Wicked Local Waltham article.

As of March 15, the Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been postponed indefinitely, as has the Providence St. Patrick’s Day Parade. In Connecticut, the Mystic Irish Day Parade has been postponed with a rescheduled date of Oct. 25, according to its website.

The Boston USA website recommends that, in lieu of the parade, those looking to participate in Irish culture look to other cross-cultural activities or traditional Irish foods in Boston.

The Waltham Wicked Local article pointed out that St. Patrick’s Day parades have a history of worsening the spread of contagious diseases. It cited the 1918 Philadelphia parade to promote Liberty Loans, which led to the spread the Spanish Flu to thousands of audience members.

St. Patrick’s Day parades first started in 1601 in Spain, according to the History Channel website. The same article reported that the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Boston was in 1737, more than a century later.