The marchers entertained; the floats rolled; and the alcohol flowed.

The festivities all were part of Buffalo’s 68th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, as crowds adorned in green and sporting tall hats, boa feathers and lots of beads packed both sides of Delaware Avenue, north of Niagara Square.

The enthusiastic parade watchers cheered everyone from firefighters, ironworkers and Irish dancers to a roller derby team, the State Police and the Buffalo Shamrocks Hockey Club.

Often, loud horn sounds, from trucks, from partyers, punctuated the air.

“I’m Irish and I love it,” said Adam Blaner of Cheektowaga. “It’s something I do every year, and it’s his second one,” pointing to Caleb, his young son.

“We’re having a wonderful time,” Deputy Fire Commissioner Patrick Lewis said, walking in the parade with a banner across his chest that read, “Irishman of the Year.” “It’s a great day for the Irish, with everyone here enjoying themselves.”

The Buffalo Dachshund Club drew laughs as more than a dozen dogs — walking behind the “Wiener Wagon”

— made their way forward.

At a St. Patrick’s Day souvenir stand, the seller who called himself “Mr. Lee” was busy hawking his wares, although he said business was less than brisk.

“People are having fun and probably cold, . . . and it is what it is with the economy, but everyone’s having fun, and that’s what counts,” he said.

The Queen City Roller Girls, a roller derby team in North Tonawanda, skated along the parade route, drawing cheers from viewers.

“It’s awesome!,” Maria “Crazy Legs” Hollander said, as she briefly came to a halt. “We’re very happy doing the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and we’re having a very, very good [reception].”

Attention wasn’t always on the parade.

Crowds of intoxicated, festive revelers gathered on Chippewa Street, with many pouring into such establishments as Bottoms Up and the Soho Bar. Drunken revelry also was rampant along the parade route, with groups — including many clearly under age—lugging six-packs and drinking openly from bottles and cans.

The only police who seemed around often were in the parade.

Taking note of the drinking, Leroy Rogers of Derby said: “It’s what it should be. It’s Irish day, their day. I’ve got about one-tenth of Irish in me, but that’s OK.”

Still, all the drinking bothered Paul Lyons of Elma, watching the parade with his wife and three daughters.

“There are too many people who are inebriated and acting like idiots. There’s probably a lot of underage drinking and a lot of kids who are unsupervised,” Lyons said.

“It changes from what I remember as a little kid, coming here with my grandparents who were from Ireland. This isn’t what being Irish is about. Half of these people who are partying and are a mess probably aren’t even Irish.”

Police radio channels were filled with reports of fights, assaults and public intoxication,

but there didn't appear to be any serious problems during or after the parade.

"From what I understand right now, things were either normal or below normal in terms of

incidents," Michael J. DeGeorge, a Buffalo police spokesman, said this morning. "I'm not aware

of anything major at this point."