It was about camaraderie not competition! The Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee held it’s Annual Queen Colleen Coronation at the Celtic Tavern in Lodo on October 21, 2012. The Queen Colleen and her Court will reign in the 51st Annual Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade, March 16, 2013. Six young ladies, from six different organizations, participated by speaking with the audience, singing, dancing, and playing instruments. They met each other and the judges a week before over tea and were friends by the time the big day arrived.
The Queen Colleen Coronation committee coordinated a special crowd favorite award which raised over $600 for Children’s Hospital.

The 2nd Runner-up is Susannah Faulkner, sponsored by Udi’s Gluten Free Foods, who was a major sponsor of the Coronation event. Susannah is a member of the Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee as well as the Irish Network of Colorado. She performed a beautiful classical ballet.

The 1st Runner-up is Kathleen Zazenski, sponsored by Michael and Ann O’Neill. Katie is a member of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians and a volunteer for Domesti-PUPS. She sang an a cappella version of “Danny Boy” by Frederic Weatherly.

The 2013 Queen Colleen is Jessica Lesser, sponsored by Colorado Emerald Society. Over fifteen years ago, Jessica fell in love with Irish dancing. She was a multiple National & World qualifier in solo dancing, but won the Regional’s, National’s, “All Ireland’s” & World Championships with her team members at Celtic Steps School of Irish Dance.
She danced on two different teams that each won a 2011 World Championship. It was the first time that an American team had pulled off two championships at one World competition.
Jessica now dances professionally with Colorado’s only professional Irish dance troupe called “Strictly Irish” and will be going on a short tour in November with the Irish band called Feast, in a show called Celtic Fire. This group was nominated for two Emmy’s 3 years ago, for this show which was shown on PBS.
Jessica plans to bring that same kind of passion to her new position as Queen Colleen. Bringing the Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee representation out into the Irish and non-Irish communities is something she hopes to accomplish.
Congratulations to Queen Colleen Jessica Lesser!