Organizers of the St. Patrick’s Days celebration in Wright Square in Savannah, Georgia, posted pictures on Facebook of the carnage left by partyers over the weekend.
The images show trash completely covering the ground with city workers and volunteers working to clean up the mess. The post from the “City of Savannah Government St. Patrick’s Festival Info” Facebook page has been shared 1,500 times as of Monday. (RELATED: Why Do Americans Eat Corned Beef On St. Patrick’s Day?)
As many as 300,000 people were expected to have attended the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day parade this year, which was first hosted in the city in 1824.
The city of Savannah attempted to crack down on the amount of litter produced by the St. Patrick’s Day celebration this year, upping the police presence at Chippewa Square, which was the epicenter of the trash problem in recent years. As a result, partyers simply moved to neighboring Wright Square to cause just as much destruction.
Local officials are already making plans to thwart littering at next year’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration. “We know what to do now,” Susan Broker, City Hall’s chief planner for St. Patrick’s Day stated. “We will be implementing some rules throughout the parade area and enforcing those next year. We have 364 days to get this right, and we’re going to.”
Broker says that the city is planning to ban styrofoam coolers at next year’s celebration since they have a tendency to break down into impossibly small fragments difficult to clean. (RELATED: ‘Drink Responsibly’ — GOP Ripped After Dragging Beto O’Rourke In St. Patrick’s Day Tweet)
Savannah Police Chief Roy Minter said that his department made 19 arrests in downtown Savannah and 12 drunk driving arrests during the weekend celebration.
Savannah Mayor Eddie DeLoach thanked the volunteers and city employees who were responsible for cleaning up the mess: “You walked out here the next day and you didn’t even think anybody had been here.”