St. Patrick's Day celebrated on streets of Toronto

In downtown Toronto on Sunday, it was all about "going green."

The city was out celebrating St. Patrick’s Day as the annual parade wound its way from Varsity Stadium down to Nathan Phillips Square.

The people in the parade wore green, the revellers wore green, as did the dogs they brought with them to see the show from the sidewalk.

Dana Welch, the marketing manager for Tourism Ireland in Canada, told CBC News it was a day when "the whole city is going green."

Mayor John Tory was marching in the parade alongside Toronto police Chief Bill Blair, who was serving as the parade’s grand marshal.

Tory wore an eye-catching lime green jacket that had patches and colourful buttons on it, which he was keen to show off to a CBC News reporter.

"I picked out this jacket at Honest Ed's … it’s a bargain," he told CBC News.

Tory said St. Patrick’s Day is "about celebrating together, which we’re out doing and nobody knows how to have a good time better than the Irish do."

Blair told CBC News that both of his parents had family roots in Ireland.

"It's a part of our heritage and a heritage we celebrated and we're very proud of," he said.

Earlier in the day, Blair and Tory were among dozens of guests invited to a St. Patrick's Day breakfast, which was also attended by Mayor John Tory, as well as Ray Bassett, the Irish ambassador to Canada, and Charles Flanagan, the Irish minister of foreign affairs.

• If you're on mobile, click here to see the mayor's tweet about his blazer.