DAVENPORT, Iowa — About one year since St. Patrick's Day events in the Quad Cities were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of those events started making a comeback.
At the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport on Saturday, the crowds might look a little more normal.
"You look around everyone’s got a smile on their face," said Shawn Loter. Loter is the general manager at the fairgrounds.
Many in those crowds did not wear a mask.
Loter said having the event this year is even more special after the event last year was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"When the pandemic hit, about three hours before we were supposed to open we got shut down," Loter said. "So that was kinda heartbreaking, but you know this year everything’s looking up."
Attendees at the fairgrounds' event found themselves looking up, too, finding a familiar tradition.
Dennis Jensen is one of the six "Flying Leprechauns," skydiving down to the fairgrounds. The group, who uses that name for this specific event at the fairgrounds, has been part of each of the other two St. Patrick's Day events at the fairgrounds in years past.
"It’s all about the kids and the spectators enjoying what we do and showing them the love of our sport that we enjoy. It doesn’t get any better than that," Jensen said.
It was a sight to see for Travaris Haywood and his family. Saturday was their first time attending the fairgrounds' event, Haywood said.
"I think this is a turnaround compared to what we went through last year," Haywood said.
Haywood said Saturday's fairgrounds event shows a little more light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.
"We’re just ready for things to be back to normal, and today we felt normal," Haywood said.
Families and friends celebrated on Saturday what has been a year in the making.