Arkansas Hosts World's Shortest St. Patrick's Parade

Thousands descended on a resort town in Arkansas Monday to watch what it bills as the World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade. This 98-foot parade in the city of Hot Springs manages to pack in 40 different floats, and it's exploded in popularity since its inception in 2004, growing from just 1,500 spectators per year to over 30,000, the AP reports. This year, actor Valerie Bertinelli acted as the grand marshal, while rap icon Flavor Flav was the official starter. Past grand marshals have included Kevin Bacon, George Wendt of Cheers fame, and country musician Justin Moore.

Other participants this year included 100 members of the International Order of the Marching Irish Elvi, an Elvis Presley impersonator group, and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, who have joined annually for the past few years. This year, the parade featured a green version of Flavor Flav's signature clock necklace. "I can have fun in a five-foot parade. Ninety-eight feet gives me a little bit more time to have more fun," the Public Enemy rapper said before the festivities, which also featured a concert and a Blarney Stone kissing contest. As for whether Hot Springs' parade is still officially the shortest, that's not clear: It has the title copyrighted, but the city of Bemidji, Minnesota, reportedly held its own "78-pace" parade Monday. The route takes just a minute and a half to traverse, Lakeland PBS reports. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)