Cleaning up after St. Patrick's Day party in Waterloo

People are cleaning up after a large street party in Waterloo for St. Patrick’s Day.

The streets were much quieter Friday. There’s no official word on how many people gathered on Marshall Street on Thursday, but it appeared more than 1,000 students came out for the first major party for St. Patrick’s Day since the pandemic began.

Students who came out on Thursday said things stayed mostly under control.

“Considering the occasion, I would consider it more than OK for me personally,” said Nathaniel Chung, who was visiting Waterloo. “It wasn’t too overwhelming. In terms of riot control, there wasn’t anything crazy.”

Ezra Avenue will stay fenced off until Monday.

Officials with Grand River Hospital said their emergency department treated between 20 and 30 people because of St. Patrick's Day festivities, with 70 per cent of those people treated for intoxication or injuries from intoxication. In total, 241 patients came through GRH's emergency department Thursday.

Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky said there was “pent-up demand” for a party after two pandemic years.

“It couldn’t have been a nicer day,” he said. “We’re all tired. It was done very respectfully, so I think we’re pretty proud of the students letting off steam, but doing it in a very respectful way.”

Police said they expect to have updated numbers on crowd size and tickets on Monday.