A sea of green lined Market Street on Saturday as the 158th annual San Francisco St. Patrick's Day parade began with the jubilant wailing of bagpipes and Irish step dancing amid a high spirited audience.

The crowd enjoyed a piece by The Archbishop Riordan high school band with their tight cadence and synchronous ensemble. Children jeered and ran along the sidewalks to keep up with the green colored floats.

Alex Sanders, 13, ran along the parade route to keep up with his sister, a member of the Keenan School of Irish Dance from Sonoma County.

"She's been practicing for this for a long time," said Sanders, as he curled over and placed his hands on his knees." I told her I'd be cheering for her the whole time; it's hard to keep up with all these people in the way."

Mayor Gavin Newsom strolled alongside floats tossing green beaded necklaces to a myriad of extended hands. Board of supervisor President David Chiu and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma joined Newsom with the festivities riding in convertibles.

As the parade rounded off in front of Civic Center Plaza, hordes of people were corralled into fenced-off drinking areas, while others joined the folk-dancing, beer-wielding crowd in front of the stage.

The Mad Maggies, a corky group of Bay Area musicians, played into several genre's, but hit it home with their "power polka" leaving the audience begging for an encore.

Food vendors boasted Italian sausages, Chinese teriyaki chicken, even traditional Vietnamese cuisine leaving many Irish enthusiasts looking elsewhere for their corned beef and cabbage.

A pack of giant Irish wolfhounds meandered through the plaza, creating a following of curious attendees which earned them the nickname as "the parades biggest party animals."

"These are only pups, we expect them to get much bigger," said Tina Rousseger, owner of the ten-month-old, 140 pound pooch. The dogs can weigh up to 175 pounds and reach heights of nearly 4 feet, according to Rousseger .

At the San Francisco Police Department tent, a box with confiscated drinking paraphernalia stood, testament to SFPD efforts to thwart uncontrolled drinking.

The St. Patty's day event was well managed, according to event coordinators. The controlled environment was attributed to the designated drinking areas and a police presence felt unanimously by rowdy parade-goers.

"This is nothing like I expected," said Tyler Morrison, a student at UC Santa Cruz. "I came here to drunk and dance to Irish music, but the police are everywhere...I thought this would be more wild like Lovefest."