St. Patrick's Day parade paints the town green

The city's annual celebration of all things Irish got an early start Sunday as the 29thannual St. Patrick's Day parade marched through the downtown core.

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Of course, St. Patrick's Day isn't until Thursday,but that did not deter throngs of Irish and wannabe Irish from descending on the downtown as the procession got underway at noon.

By midday, Twitter and other social media, like much of Yonge Street, were awash with green clothes and orange hair.

Mayor John Tory was among the notables in the crowd, his Irish credentials boosted by no less than Ray Bassett, Ireland's ambassador to Canada,Bahamas and Jamaica seen in the photo below.

Bassett, oddly, appears to be the only person within sight who's not wearing green.

Road closures

The parade also causes significant traffic and transit disruptions.TTC service on Queen Street West will be affected, and the police have provided this list of road closures:

8a.m. to 1:30 p.m.:

• St. George Street from Bloor Street West to College Street.
• Devonshire Place from Bloor Street West to Hoskin Avenue.

10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.:

• Hoskin Avenuefrom St. George Street to Queen's Park Crescent West.
• Harbord Stree, from St. George Street to Huron Street.

11:35 a.m. to 3 p.m.:

• Bloor Streetfrom Huron Street to Avenue Road and Queen's Park Crescent.

11:55 a.m. to 3 p.m.:

• Bloor Streetfrom Avenue Road and Queen's Park Crescent to Yonge Street.
• Yonge Streetfrom Bloor Street to Queen Street.
• Queen Street Westfrom Yonge Street to University Avenue.

12 p.m. to 3 p.m.:

• Bay Streetfrom Queen Street West to Dundas Street West.
• Elizabeth Streetfrom Dundas Street West to Hagerman Street.
• Hagerman Street from Elizabeth Street to Bay Street.

12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.:

• University Avenuefrom Queen Street West to Dundas Street West.
• Armoury Streetfrom University Avenue to Chestnut Street.
• Centre Avenuefrom Dundas Street West to Armoury Street.