The first ever 20th annual world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade announced Monday the grand marshal is an Arkansas country music star.
County music superstar, Jason Moore will be the celebrity grand marshal at the parade on Bridge Street, downtown Hot Springs.
“All of us here in Hot Springs consider Justin almost a hometown boy since his hometown of Poyen is only a couple of miles down the road on Highway 270,” said Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison in announcing Moore’s selection. “He’ll be a great grand marshal as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of our huge little parade and while he won’t be performing as part of the celebration, he will be having a great time meeting some of his biggest fans who have come to see him in the parade.”
Moore will be joining actor Chris McDonald who played Shooter McGavin in the iconic movie “Happy Gilmore” and McDonald will fire the starter’s pistol as the official start of the parade.
WORLD’S SHORTEST ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE TO WELCOME A ‘HAPPY GILMORE’ GUEST NEXT YEAR
The parade has brought forth international attention to Hot Springs since its establishment in 2003.
Moore has built a loyal following over the past decade with his traditional country sound and captivating live shows.
His current single, “With a Woman You Love” has him climbing the country radio charts.
The emotional tune follows in the footsteps of his 10th number-one hit, “We Didn’t Have Much” which is featured on his eight-track collection of tunes, ‘Straight Outta The Country.‘
The Arkansas native’s fanbase helped boost his fifth studio album, ‘Late Nights and Longnecks,’ to the top of the charts.
Lead track “The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back Home,” and follow-up “Why We Drink,” both hit number one on both Mediabase and Billboard.
His previous project ‘Kinda Don’t Care’, earned him his third consecutive number-one album debut and features his chart-topping singles “You Look Like I Need a Drink” and “Somebody Else Will.”
It served as a follow-up to his second No. 1 album release, the gold-certified Off The Beaten Path.
During his 10-plus-year career, Moore’s No. 1 hits have also included “Point at You,” “Lettin’ the Night Roll” “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away,” “Small Town USA” and “Till My Last Day” as well as seven Top 10 hits and platinum-certified albums Justin Moore and Outlaws Like Me.
Moore has been busy hosting his Justin Moore Podcast with tour manager JR and interviewing guests such as Matthew McConaughey, Tracy Lawrence, Jon Pardi, Brantley Gilbert, Diamond Dallas Page, and Marty Smith.
He has recently taken on a new role as co-host on 103.7 The Buzz’s morning drive-time sports talk show, Morning Mayhem.
“The 20th-anniversary edition of the parade will be pretty special,” said Arrison. “We’ll want the crowd to enjoy Hot Springs in celebrating our city’s equivalent of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. Hard to believe it was 20 years ago when a bunch of us were sharing a beer at Spencer’s Corner and wondering how to take advantage of the fact that Bridge Street — right outside the door — is recognized as the shortest street in the world in everyday use. It dawned on me that we could have a 98-foot parade and bill it as the world’s shortest. That was 20 years ago, and for years now our wacky little parade has brought international attention to Hot Springs as a really great place to have a good time.”
The parade annually attracts crowds of upwards of 30,000 people to watch Irish Elvis impersonators, marching units, floats, dancers, and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders as well as other unique units throughout the 98- foot length parade.
For more information reach out to Steve Arrison at (501) 321-2027.