St Pattys Day | Hot Springs

Hot Springs – The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade

We’ve long known about Hot Springs claim to hosting the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade and finally were in town camping at the Gulpha Gorge Hot Springs National Park campground on March 17, 2017. Further down this page you’ll find two St Patty’s Day videos I made of the parade and the after-parade party in a local Irish Pub.

Have to get there early to get a front row position or be 6 foot 8 would help too!
One block long Bridge St is the official parade route, but floats and paraders arrive via Central Ave and leave via Malvern Ave.

The reason Hot Springs St. Patty’s Day parade is the world’s shortest is that it takes place on Bridge Street, a street two blocks south of Bath House Row that is only one block long. Truth be told, if the official parade took place on another street it would be much longer than one block. But how it works is only one parade performer strolls down Bridge Street at a time so at any given moment in time, the parade is only a block long. Getting a front row seat to the parade is a challenge and people start lining up hours before the parade start time. We didn’t have the stamina to claim a spot so early and as first time parade attendees didn’t know the best spots to get a decent view. Having now been to one, we have some advice to offer to those who don’t want to sit in their spot hours in advance, but want to better see the parade. Don’t try to get a spot along Bridge Street. Find a spot along Central Avenue where all the parade participants line up prior to parading down Bridge St or find a spot along Malvern Ave where the paraders go when they finish their run down Bridge Street.

Many of the paraders had presents of wrapped candy or beads that they tossed out to those lining the street watching the parade. So lots of competition to catch one of the baubles.

The parade itself is a prelude to the merriment as the thousands of people who lined up to watch the parade then retire to their favorite bar for more fun. Keeping with the Irish theme, we made our way to the Copper Penny Pub where we treated to rousing performances by the Arkansas Drum and Bag Pipe Troup.

Video of 2017 St. Patty’s Day Parade & Post Parade Celebration in the Copper Penny Pub





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