HOT SPRINGS, AR--(Marketwired - Mar 6, 2014) - On Monday, March 17, 2014, tens of thousands of green-clad revelers will surround the legendary 98-foot-long Bridge Street in downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas for the First Ever Eleventh Annual World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade. The parade had become one of the most popular things to do on St. Patrick's Day in Arkansas.
The "Romancing the Stone" Blarney Stone Kissing Contest begins at 4:30 p.m. outside the Hot Springs Convention Center near Bridge Street. Judges will award cash prizes for the best kiss planted on the Arkansas Blarney Stone. At 5:30, folksinger and poet Rickey Pittman will get the fanfare going.
The Parade begins at 6:30 after the ceremonial measuring of the parade route. A procession of wacky floats, motorcycles, classic cars, musicians, Irish Elvis impersonators, leprechauns and dancers (including the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders) will march down the world's shortest street until 7:30, when the post-parade concert The Hot Springs All-Star Review Band begins at the Bridge Street stage.
The 2014 Celebrity Grand Marshal is film and television actor and writer Jim Belushi, while Duck Dynasty's "Mountain Man" will be the parade's official starter. Lucky the Leprechaun will join the party as the parade's new mascot.
The World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade was named one of March 2014's top 20 events by the Southeast Tourism Society. The Discovery Channel also ranked it number one on its list of Crazy St. Patrick's Day Traditions.
This year's marketing campaign uses the hashtag #SIZEMATTERS to emphasize that the world's shortest parade can also be the most impressive. Parade attendees are encouraged to tag their photos and posts with #SIZEMATTERS.
The first World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade was held in 2004 after locals decided that a St. Patrick's Day parade would be perfect way to attract visitors to Hot Spring's Bridge Street, the World's Shortest Street in Everyday Use. Last year an estimated 30,000 people showed up for one of the area's top things to do on St. Patrick's Day.
The parade is sponsored by Visit Hot Springs and is governed by a volunteer board of various Hot Springs business owners and community leaders. For more information, visit www.shorteststpats.com.
